Belarus has formally requested Russia's assistance in constructing a second nuclear power plant (NPP) within its borders, President Alexander Lukashenko announced during an address to Russia's Federation Council in Moscow on March 14, TASS reported.

Lukashenko highlighted the nation's increasing electricity consumption, attributing it to industrial development and rising consumer demand.

"Electricity consumption in the country has increased; we will need more electricity as industry develops, as consumer demand grows," Lukashenko said during a working visit to Russia.

Belarus's first controversial NPP, the Russian-built Ostrovets (aka Astravets in Lithuanian), has been operational since 2020, was built and financed by Russia despite the strong objections of Lithuania, which doesn’t trust the Russian technology. The Ostrovets NPP is only about 65 km from the Lithuanian border and close to its capital of Vilnius.

The Baltic states have further distanced themselves from Russian energy supplies by cutting ties to the Soviet-era BRELL grid in February that also cut ties to Belarus. Previously, Belarus had exported significant amounts of power to the three Baltic states, although those supplies have fallen in the last few years.

Belarus is keen to create an energy union with Russia as part of larger plans to create a Union State, agreed in 1999. White a treaty was signed last summer, progress on unifying their energy systems has been slow due to disputes over the price Russia is willing to pay for Belarusian power. Russia subsidies much of the power supply to its population and is unwilling to pay Minsk the full commercial rate for its power.

Lukashenko said that Belarusian specialists are now capable of undertaking significant portions of the construction independently, though critical components like reactors and turbines would still require Russian expertise.​

Strategically positioning the new NPP near Belarus's eastern borders could enable the export of electricity to neighbouring Russian regions, including Bryansk, as well as to newly integrated territories in Ukraine that Russia annexed in 2023. Lukashenko also suggested that Baltic countries might reconsider their decision to cut ties due to escalating electricity prices in the rest of Europe.

"I think that those deluded, disoriented who disconnected from us... will also get back to our electricity, which has already grown in price two-fold there, and it will also grow three-fold,” Lukashenko told Russian lawmakers.