On July 23, Minsk /BelTA/. A number of hydroelectric power plants with a total capacity of 230-250 MW are planned to be built in Belarus in the coming years. This was announced by the Deputy Minister of Energy of Belarus, Mikhail Mihadyuk, on July 22 in Minsk at a meeting with journalists from EU countries, BelTA reports. Given that Belarus is a lowland country, the capacity of the planned HPPs will be small, ranging from 17 to 30 MW. The Deputy Minister named the Grodno HPP, scheduled for commissioning in 2011, as the largest project. A contract for the construction of the Polotsk HPP has also been signed. A feasibility study for the construction of the Vitebsk HPP on the Western Dvina River and the Nemnovskaya HPP on the Neman River has been prepared. Due to the transboundary nature of the Neman River and the location of the future Nemnovskaya HPP in close proximity to the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, public hearings on the environmental impact assessment of the Nemnovskaya HPP on the Neman River were held in Lithuania in October last year. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of Belarus, the conducted studies and calculations showed that the transboundary impact of the Nemnovskaya HPP on Lithuania's territory would be insignificant for the main environmental components, Mikhail Mihadyuk said. The press tour of journalists from EU countries to Belarus will last until July 24. 13 journalists represent media outlets from Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and the United Kingdom. "The purpose of the visit is to familiarize citizens of EU member states with specific projects that the EU is implementing in Belarus within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP)," the organizers of the visit note.

BELTA