Ecology & Safety, Volume 17, 2023

Rezumat: In the Republic of Belarus, due to limits of its own natural reserves of fossil fuels, almost 80 percent of energy consumption in real sector and social sphere is provided by the import of energy resources that significantly reduces the energy security of the country. Under these conditions, one of the priority areas for increasing stability and security of Belarusian power engineering complex is gradual replacement of imported crude oil and natural gas with local energy resources, including renewable energy and nuclear power. Both resources if properly balanced, scheduled and utilized in the National United Energy System along with gradual decommission of fossil fuel facilities should also help Belarus in meeting and strengthening the country’s climate commitments. The recent developments in this area included construction and commercial operation of the Belarusian nuclear power plant and sufficient progress in extending renewable energy resources and improving energy efficiency. This allowed, since 2010, to achieve the twofold reduction of the share of hydrocarbon imports in GDP and increase the ratio of the own primary energy production to the gross consumption of fuel and energy resources from 14.0% to 22.5%. As a result, during the last ten years, the energy production facilities reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 8%. The analysis of energy supply indicators, the current state and medium-term forecasts of the development of the national energy industry, in the structure of which nuclear energy begins to play a significant role, indicate about a number of achievements that include gradual elimination of threats and uncertainties for the sustainable, reliable and efficient development of the energy sector in the Republic of Belarus.