'If people were promised, it must be done.' Lukashenko on network capacity for using electricity for heating purposes

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has instructed to more actively create conditions for using electricity for heating citizens' homes. The head of state announced this while receiving a report on the completion of the construction of the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (BelNPP) and increasing the availability of electricity for heating residential buildings, a BELTA correspondent reports.

The head of state noted that in connection with the commissioning of the BelNPP, electricity production in the country is increasing. "We generally had enough electricity anyway. For industry, for agriculture, and to some extent for people. Now some, I wouldn't say excess (volumes of electricity produced. - BELTA note), reserves are appearing," Alexander Lukashenko stated.

He stated that electricity consumption will grow, and in this regard, the country has focused on supporting people. For example, this applies to the use of electricity for heating residential buildings. "We have focused on people. We looked at the heating of a settlement (in Novaya Okolitsa near Minsk. - BELTA note), which Deputy Prime Minister Sivak is building. I must say, it's a miracle - clean, neat. It can't even be compared to gas boilers and heating. I'm not even talking about coal and so on. The climate is changing, this is very important for us," the President said.

The head of state emphasized that the use of electricity for heating residential buildings is not only cost-effective but also a clean and safe technology.

"Therefore, the decision to offer electricity to people was the right one. And the prices are acceptable. Even cheaper, people say, than gas heating. These are incomparable things. But we are lagging somewhere in terms of networks (in terms of their capacity to provide such an opportunity to everyone who wants it. - BELTA note)," Alexander Lukashenko noted. Currently, it is not possible to satisfy approximately 10-15% of the corresponding requests from citizens.

The Head of State was assured that systematic work is being carried out to resolve this issue. And although much has already been done, it is not enough - there is a sharp increase in demand from the population.

"Therefore, we need to expand the networks. Roughly speaking, so that this wire goes directly to a person's home. If people have been promised something, it must be done. Yes, it has increased sharply. Naturally: people are not stupid, they see, they feel that this is a very profitable matter. Well, and electricity is available. We need to help our people. That's what we live and work for - to help people," the Belarusian leader instructed.

He asked for a report on the current situation regarding this issue and its prospects. The issue of expanding the use of electric transport is also relevant in this context. "We are developing it more and more. This is also correct. It turns out that we realized it in time and started developing this direction," noted Alexander Lukashenko.

At the same time, the President noted that despite the emergence of reserves, it is undesirable for other capacities to stand idle or be operated in so-called cold standby mode. He cited the Berezovskaya and Lukomlskaya thermal power plants as an example. As reported to the head of state, there are options. "There are good options for loading and very profitable for the state. In this regard, we need to continue our work," said the Belarusian leader.

Source: belta.by