Rosatom eager to sell accumulators for Belarusian electric vehicles

SOCHI, 22 November (BelTA) – Rosatom is interested in advancing cooperation with Belarus in the area of energy accumulators for electric vehicles, BelTA learned from Director of OOO Rusatom Bel (Rosatom's country office in Belarus) Stanislav Levitsky on the sidelines of the international forum Atomexpo in Sochi on 22 November.

Stanislav Levitsky said: “Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich was made familiar with Rosatom's latest solutions at Atomexpo. He expressed strong interest in energy accumulation systems.”

By the way, cooperation with Belarus in this field has already been established: in 2022 Rosatom's Renera Company signed a contract on supplying lithium-ion accumulators for 97 trolleybuses with an increased autonomous range with the Belarusian company BKM Holding. The trolleybuses are intended for St Petersburg. Apart from that, Renera and the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus have agreed on cooperation in the development of energy accumulation systems for providing the manufacturing and technological basis and for increasing the number of electric-drive vehicles in Belarus.

Stanislav Levitsky went on saying: “We are now looking for a basic partner in Belarus' territory in order to localize the assembly of lithium-based sources of energy. We need to understand what the market will be. We see the development of electric transport is on the rise. We understand that it will be necessary to ensure and intensify programs on increasing electricity consumption after the second unit of the Belarusian nuclear power plant is commissioned. On the one hand, electric vehicles will help realize the green agenda. On the other hand, they will help with the development of many economy branches. We will move towards that.”

Other matters concerning cooperation in the sphere of transport are also being discussed. MAZ's chief designer came to attend Atomexpo. He was made familiar with all the latest solutions. A MAZ-Rosatom strategy meeting was held. Stanislav Levitsky said: “We've discussed the localization of gas bottle solutions with MAZ. Our Belarusian partners are interested in high-pressure gas bottles because they can store a lot of gas and can extend the cruising range of vehicles as a result. They allow improving fuel effectiveness, transporting more passengers at a lower cost. We also suggest using composite materials to make parts of the vehicle body, the load-bearing structure, and the floor surface. We hope that this year or the next one we and the colleagues will be able to transition to the development, signing, and realization of roadmaps in several areas: gas bottle equipment, composite materials, the development of semi-trailers. Hydrogen technology is also under consideration.”