The Ignalina nuclear power station was once the pillar of Lithuania’s energy supply, but since it closed Lithuania has been importing electricity from Belarus, Latvia, Russia and Sweden with imports covering around 70% of its electricity supply in 2019, a report by the International Energy Agency says.
Lithuania was an exporter of electricity to Belarus, Latvia and Russia during the 1990s. But it started importing electricity from Russia in 2011 (2.3 TWh), and from Latvia in 2010 (2.8 TWh). In 2018, imports reached 3.3 TWh for Latvia and 2.8 TWh for Russia.
Ignalina consisted of two Soviet-designed RBMK reactors of 1,185 MW each. Units 1 and 2 came online in December 1983 and August 1987 respectively, but were shut down in 2004 and 2009 following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and as part of the accession process to the European Union.
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