Vladislav Dolgy noted that the state program Sustainable Energy and Energy Efficiency for 2026–2030 includes three core components: improving the efficiency of fuel and energy utilization, enhancing energy independence, and ensuring the balanced development and modernization of the energy industry. According to the deputy energy minister, the program for the balanced development and modernization of the energy industry is the most capital-intensive. It aims to meet the growing demand for electricity from both enterprises and the public, while improving the availability and reliability of heat and gas supplies. The initiative provides for commissioning new generating sources, modernizing existing ones, decommissioning obsolete equipment, upgrading electricity and heating grids, and driving the further digitalization of the energy sector. «Modern grid modernization is an essential condition for their reliable operation, as well as for uninterrupted energy and fuel supplies to industrial and agricultural enterprises and the public,» he emphasized.
The program to improve the efficiency of fuel and energy utilization stipulates that by the end of the five-year period, the energy intensity of the Belarusian economy must decrease by 4% compared to the 2025 level. «In a highly competitive environment, a simple principle applies: the fewer fuel and energy resources used in production, the cheaper and more competitive the product becomes in both domestic and foreign markets,» the deputy energy minister explained.
Enhancing energy independence aims to increase the share of domestic resources in Belarus’ energy balance. These include local fuels, primarily wood and peat, renewable energy sources, and electricity generated by the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). The higher the share of domestic energy resources, the less the country depends on external supply chains. The level of Belarus’ energy independence is planned to reach 33%.
Vladislav Dolgy also added that Belarus’ energy industry is a key life-sustaining sector. «The Belarusian power grid is a high-tech complex of power plants and networks that reliably supplies industry, agriculture, and the public with electricity and heat,» he said.
At the beginning of 2026, the length of Belarus’ gas distribution system stood at approximately 69,000 km. It ensures natural gas supplies to all 118 district centers, 115 cities, and 85 communities across the country. The installed capacity of generating sources in the Belarusian power system exceeds 12,000 MW. This includes 2,340 MW from the Belarusian NPP, about 9,761 MW from thermal power plants, and 88 MW from hydroelectric power plants. The total length of power lines exceeds 284,000 km. The power system also comprises over 1,300 substations with a voltage of 35–750 kV. The length of heating networks is about 7,800 km in single-pipe terms.
According to the deputy energy minister, Belarus recorded an all-time high in electricity consumption in 2024–2025, exceeding 42 billion kWh. Over the five-year period, electricity consumption in the country increased by more than 5 billion kWh, or 16%. A milestone event for the Belarusian energy industry was the commissioning of the Belarusian NPP. The plant made it possible to replace approximately 18 billion cubic meters of imported natural gas. Over the past five years, over 12,500 km of power lines of all voltage classes were built and reconstructed in Belarus. In the current five-year period, there are plans to construct and modernize around 18,500 km of grids.
