RAO UES, the world’s largest energy company, has completed an agreement that has seen a new transmission link to the West, passing through Belarus to Poland, used to export power. Under the terms of the deal, UES will supply some 1.5 GWh daily at a cost of DM28 – DM33/MWh ($12.59 – $14.39/MWh). The energy will be supplied to Poland’s state-owned power grid, the PSE.
Anatoly Chubais, head of UES, described the deal as a breakthrough, marking the first direct export of power to the west. The news followed recent talks between the EU and Russia concerned with dramatically increasing energy imports from the country. The talks reportedly centred on plans to double importation of gas to 100 million TOE annually and increasing oil and power purchases too. Boosting imports from Russia would reduce dependence on OPEC oil and there has been talk of exporting Western technology to Russia to increase yield from oil and gas fields under a long-term energy alliance. Russia already supplies around a fifth of the EU’s gas and oil.
