Lietuvos energija, AB - Other information

Shareholders of Lietuvos energija, AB will decide on strategic projects of the Company

Elektrenai, Lithuania, 2012-08-29 12:39 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Board of
Lietuvos Energija approached the shareholders of the Company for decisions on
three strategic projects which would expand the range of the services provided
by the Company and strengthen its position. The shareholders will decide on the
development of Kruonis HPSP, biofuel-fired boiler houses, and dismantling of
two units of the Lithuanian Power Plant. 

Development of the Kruonis Hydro Pumped Storage Plant

It is proposed that the shareholders should give approval to the decision to
announce a tendering procedure for the construction of Unit 5 of the Kruonis
Hydro Pumped Storage Plant (Kruonis HPSP). It is intended that the new unit
will be commissioned prior to the start of operation of the NordBalt and LitPol
Link power links. 

The development of the Kruonis HPSP is being planned in accordance with the
approved national Energy Strategy aimed at developing the electricity market
and expanding the range of services provided by the Company. 

“As volumes of power generation from renewable energy resources are increasing,
we need a unit which could operate flexibly by both absorbing any unplanned
amounts of electricity and generating electricity when the winds are not
blowing“, Dalius Misiūnas, General Manager of Lietuvos Energija, lists the
factors underlying the development of the Kruonis HPSP. “Furthermore, on
completion of the links with Sweden and Poland, as the market is enlarged, it
will be possible to buy cheaper electricity in the night time and to sell more
of it in the day time when both the demand and the price are higher“. 

According to Dalius Misiūnas, the Kruonis HPSP‘s development will ensure the
demand for the power reserve of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant and will
contribute to the attainment of one of the strategic objectives of the
Lithuanian energy sector: synchronisation with the European power system. 

An analysis of the development alternatives for the Kruonis HPSP has shown that
a 225 MW asynchronous unit would be optimal for the meeting of the estimated
demand for the power system regulation and new power generation capacities.
Other alternatives had been considered but later abandoned; according to
experts, it would be more complicated technically to adapt the present
infrastructure to units of different capacity and the efficiency would be
lower. 

The estimated investments in Unit 5 of the Kruonis HPSP can be LTL 400 million.
The exact value of the project will be determined during the tendering
procedure. Several financing sources are being considered. It is estimated that
the length of the project will be from three to four years. The putting of the
unit into operation should coincide with the start of operation of the NordBalt
and LitPol Link power links. 

Upgrading of Heat Generation Technologies

The agenda of an extraordinary meeting of shareholders of Lietuvos Energija
includes an investment project on the construction of heat energy generation
capacities at the Lithuanian Power Plant (LEL). The purpose of the project is
to provide efficient heat generation capacities that are independent from the
power generation. Such capacities would secure supply of heat to residents and
businesses of the Elektrėnai municipality, with the present units of LEL
performing the standby function only. 

It is being planned that operation of the new heat generation capacities will
start in 2013, whereas the whole project on upgrading of the heat generation
technologies will be completed in 2014. 

The shareholders will decide on the pledging of the assets to be developed
under the project in order to secure the requisite project financing. 

Decommissioning and Dismantling of Units 3 and 4 of the Lithuanian Power Plant

The shareholders of Lietuvos Energija will also decide on the decommissioning
and dismantling of LEL Units 3 and 4. Such decommissioning and dismantling have
been provided for in the loan agreement concluded by and between the Company
and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) of 18 February
2010. 

Units 3 and 4 are no longer used for core operations of the Company, and no
public-interest service funds have been allotted to them since 2011. 


         Ernesta Dapkienė
         Head of Communications
         Lietuvos energija, AB
         Elektrinės str. 21
         Elektrėnai
         Tel. +370 528 33696
         ernesta.dapkiene@le.lt