Most energy in Belarus is cheap fossil gas from Russia,[1] and Belarus is a net energy importer. According to IEA, the energy import vastly exceeded the energy production in 2015, describing Belarus as one of the world's least energy sufficient countries in the world.[2] Belarus imports oil from Russia,[3] and sends back some refined products such as gasoline.[4]
Total energy consumption (measured by total primary energy supply) in Belarus was 27.0 Mtoe in 2018, similar to consumption in Norway and Hungary.[2] Primary energy use in Belarus was 327 TWh or 34 TWh per million persons in 2008.[5]
Primary energy use per capita in Belarus in 2009 (34 MWh) was slightly more than in Portugal (26 MWh) and about half of the use in Belgium (64 MWh) or Sweden (62 MWh).[5]
Electricity consumed in 2021 was 32.67 billion kWh, 3,547 kWh per capita.[6]
Overview
| Population (million) |
Total energy supply (TWh) |
Production (TWh) |
Net Import (TWh) |
Electricity (TWh) |
CO2-emission (Mt) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 10.19 | 518.8 | 39.5 | 489.7 | 44.6 | 99.8 |
| 1991 | 10.19 | 504.3 | 41.1 | 464.8 | 44.8 | 96.2 |
| 1992 | 10.22 | 423.6 | 41.4 | 381.5 | 40.0 | 86.8 |
| 1993 | 10.24 | 360.5 | 38.2 | 322.3 | 35.3 | 75.4 |
| 1994 | 10.23 | 307.7 | 40.9 | 264.2 | 31.4 | 64.0 |
| 1995 | 10.19 | 281.1 | 39.4 | 251.2 | 28.4 | 56.9 |
| 1996 | 10.16 | 287.6 | 39.7 | 247.0 | 28.5 | 57.8 |
| 1997 | 10.12 | 287.9 | 39.7 | 261.1 | 29.9 | 58.2 |
| 1998 | 10.07 | 279.0 | 38.4 | 249.7 | 30.4 | 56.3 |
| 1999 | 10.03 | 275.0 | 42.1 | 237.8 | 30.1 | 54.1 |
| 2000 | 9.98 | 279.7 | 41.0 | 245.2 | 29.9 | 52.1 |
| 2001 | 9.93 | 279.9 | 42.3 | 244.8 | 29.9 | 50.9 |
| 2002 | 9.87 | 287.2 | 43.3 | 247.8 | 29.6 | 50.8 |
| 2003 | 9.80 | 295.4 | 41.9 | 257.6 | 30.0 | 51.4 |
| 2004 | 9.73 | 309.1 | 42.4 | 270.5 | 30.9 | 54.5 |
| 2005 | 9.66 | 308.1 | 44.6 | 266.5 | 31.4 | 55.0 |
| 2006 | 9.60 | 327.9 | 45.6 | 286.5 | 32.3 | 57.2 |
| 2007 | 9.56 | 321.0 | 46.4 | 275.6 | 32.4 | 55.7 |
| 2008 | 9.53 | 323.9 | 46.1 | 285.8 | 33.2 | 58.4 |
| 2009 | 9.51 | 303.8 | 45.7 | 257.5 | 31.4 | 55.3 |
| 2010 | 9.48 | 316.7 | 47.0 | 271.4 | 33.8 | 59.5 |
| 2011 | 9.46 | 333.5 | 48.7 | 285.3 | 34.4 | 56.4 |
| 2012 | 9.45 | 346.1 | 48.3 | 308.6 | 35.0 | 57.5 |
| 2013 | 9.44 | 308.9 | 46.4 | 273.4 | 34.5 | 57.5 |
| 2014 | 9.45 | 317.9 | 43.1 | 282.0 | 34.9 | 56.8 |
| 2015 | 9.46 | 290.1 | 41.7 | 248.7 | 33.8 | 52.6 |
| 2016 | 9.47 | 287.6 | 42.5 | 242.1 | 33.7 | 53.0 |
| 2017 | 9.46 | 293.6 | 46.1 | 251.5 | 34.2 | 54.0 |
| 2018 | 9.44 | 313.8 | 48.2 | 269.1 | 35.2 | 57.1 |
| 2019 | 9.42 | 303.5 | 50.8 | 256.8 | 35.4 | 55.4 |
| 2020 | 9.38 | 292.2 | 51.7 | 244.6 | 35.3 | 52.5 |
| 2021 | 9.30 | 317.2 | 70.2 | 248.1 | 38.1 | 53.1 |
| 2022 | 9.21 | 307.9 | 71.9 | 236.8 | 36.0 | 50.5 |
| Change 1990-2022 | -9.6% | -40.6% | 82.0% | -51.6% | -19.3% | -49.4% |
Power plants
| Name | Region/city | Capacity, MW[8] |
|---|---|---|
| Lukoml GRES | Vitebsk Region | 2,889 |
| Byaroza GRES | Brest Region | 1,095 |
| Minsk thermal No. 4 | Minsk city | 1,035 |
| Minsk thermal No. 5 | Minsk Region | 719.6 |
| Gomel thermal No. 2 | Gomel city | 544 |
| Minsk thermal No. 3 | Minsk city | 442 |
| Mogilev thermal No. 2 | Mogilev city | 347 |
| Grodno thermal No. 2 | Grodno city | 302.5 |
| Novopolotsk thermal | Novopolotsk city | 270 |
| Mazyr thermal | Mazyr city | 205 |
| Babruysk thermal No. 2 | Babruysk city | 182.6 |
| Svietlahorsk thermal | Svietlahorsk city | 155 |
| Minsk thermal No. 2 | Minsk city | 94 |
| Viciebsk thermal | Vitebsk city | 80 |
| Orsha thermal | Orsha city | 79.8 |
| Barysaw thermal | Barysaw city | 65 |
| Zhodzina thermal | Zhodzina city | 54 |
| Lida thermal | Lida city | 43 |
| Vitebsk hydro | Vitebsk Region | 40 |
| Mogilev thermal No. 1 | Mogilev city | 38.5 |
| Gomel thermal No. 1 | Gomel city | 37.3 |
| Zhlobin thermal | Zhlobin city | 26.2 |
| Pinsk thermal | Pinsk city | 22 |
| Polotsk hydro | Vitebsk Region | 21.7 |
| Mogilev thermal No. 3 | Mogilev city | 19.5 |
| Baranavichy thermal | Baranavichy city | 18 |
| Grodno hydro | Grodno Region | 17 |
| Brest thermal | Brest city | 12 |
| Babruysk thermal No. 1 | Babruysk city | 12 |
The Astravets Nuclear Power Plant became operational in 2020.[9] In 2024, it produced 15.7 TWh of electricity generating up to 40% of the country's supply.[10]
Natural gas
The country is one of the world’s largest importers of natural gas with estimates for 2018 being about 17 Mtoe (20 billion cubic metres [bcm]) of natural gas, making it the leading importer among the so-called EU4Energy countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. In 2018 almost all generated electricity came from natural gas (97%, or 39 terawatt hours [TWh]).[2] In 1990, the IEA reported natural gas as constituting 52% of electricity generation, with oil generating 48%.[11]
There are two large gas pipes running through Belarus, the Yamal–Europe pipeline and Northern Lights. In addition there is the Minsk–Kaliningrad Interconnection that connects to Kaliningrad.
In 2021 18.64 billion m3 were consumed with 0.06 billion produced, the rest imported.[6]
Oil
Belarus is a large oil refiner, listed 36th in the world, at 19 Mt of oil products in 2018 by the IEA.[2] It has two refineries and oil pipelines built during the Soviet era including the Mozyr Oil Refinery.
Oil consumed in 2021 amounted to 49.13m barrels with 12.52 m barrels produced, the rest imported.[6]
Renewable energy
Renewable energy generation accounted for 6% of Belarus’s energy in 2018, rising to 8% in 2020, mostly from biofuels and waste. Renewables share in electricity generation was 2% in 2018 (0.8 TWh).[2]
| Achievement | Year | Achievement | Year | Achievement | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4% | 1999 | 6% | 2001 | 8% | 2020 |
Renewable energy includes wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources.
Storage
Because non-nuclear thermal power plants are ramped up and down depending on heat requirements, and nuclear is not very flexible, increased battery storage has been suggested.[12]
Subsidies
Fossil fuelled heat is heavily subsidized.[13]: 62
See also
References
- ↑ Ritchie, Hannah; Roser, Max; Rosado, Pablo (2022-10-27). "Energy". Our World in Data.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Belarus energy profile, International Energy Agency, retrieved May 26, 2021
- ↑ The Economic Aspects of the Energy Sector in CIS Countries (PDF), European Commission, retrieved May 26, 2021
- ↑ "Russia increases gasoline imports from Belarus as domestic supplies shrink".
- 1 2 IEA Key energy statistics 2010 Archived 2010-10-11 at the Wayback Machine Page: Country specific indicator numbers from page 48
- 1 2 3 4 "Energy consumption in Belarus". Retrieved 11 November 2023.
- ↑ "Energy Statistics Data Browser". International Energy Agency. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ↑ Установленная мощность, кВт Archived 2018-01-13 at the Wayback Machine (in Russian)
- ↑ "Belarus reopens nuclear power plant after replacing equipment". Reuters. 19 November 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ "Белорусская АЭС выработала 40 млрд. кВтч электроэнергии" [Belarusian NPP generated 40 billion kWh of electricity]. belaes.by (in Russian). 26 February 2025. Archived from the original on 28 June 2025. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
- ↑ IEA statistics: Belarus 1990, archived from the original on 2014-10-22
- ↑ "How the energy system of Belarus should develop in order to stay beneficial. Forecast". ecoidea.me. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
- ↑ "Renewables Readiness Assessment: Belarus". /publications/2021/Jul/Renewables-Readiness-Assessment-Belarus. Retrieved 2021-12-23.
