Nuclear energy plays a key role in solving the economy decarbonization issues. This statement was made by Vladimir Gorn, Deputy Director of Rosatom Eastern Europe, on the Electric Transport Day organized by the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Belarus in partnership with the Great Stone Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park and ROSATOM.
The experts discussed the tendencies in the electric transport development in Belarus, as well as new transport decarbonization opportunities arising after the Belarusian NPP commissioning.
The country experiences a steady increase in the number of personal electric cars, electric buses, as well as electric trucks and handling vehicles with the majority of vehicles made in Belarus. Transport decarbonization is a significant step for the Republic of Belarus to meet its Paris Climate commitments on reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
“Nuclear energy plays a key role in solving the economy decarbonization issues”, noted Vladimir Gorn. “Today an NPP is one of the most reliable sources of clean generation. Safe nuclear energy has been chosen as the national energy strategy in the Republic of Belarus. This is a strategic decision that will provide the country's economy with a reliable source of energy for years to come while contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals”.
One of the key components for a more dynamic growth in the sector is the development of energy storage systems that will ensure quick and reliable charging of electric vehicles. RENERA (TVEL’s company), as the industry integrator of ROSATOM, is responsible for the task fulfilment. “This is the beginning of a new “green” transport era. World corporations declare an increase in the production of electric vehicles and keep reducing the production of vehicles with internal combustion engines,” said Dmitry Serebryakov, Director General of RENERA-Enertech. “We, as manufacturers of storage systems based on lithium-ion batteries, see this situation as a sign showing the beginning of revolutionary processes: batteries should be convenient, reliable, affordable and at the same time safe for the environment since this is their main competitive advantage over gasoline and diesel engines”.
Lithium-ion batteries have recently come into widespread use in the field of electric transport due to their advantages: no expensive maintenance required, charging by plugging into a wall socket which means no need for a special charging room. They also have a high energy density and deliver up to 90% capacity without derating.