Minister: Energy consumption for EV charging almost doubles

Consumption of electricity used for charging electric vehicles has almost doubled, Belarusian Energy Minister Viktor Karankevich said in an interview to Belarus 1 TV channel, BelTA has learned. Electricity production since the first power unit was commissioned has already exceeded 30 billion kWh, which made it possible to replace 8 billion cubic meters of natural gas, Viktor Karankevich said. In his words, the demand for electricity is growing. “In 2023, electricity consumption amounted to 41.1 billion kWh, which is 6.6% more compared to 2022.The upward trend continues into this year: in January-April 2024, electricity consumption in country increased 9.7% year-on-year. The growth has been registered both in the real sector of the economy (energy-intensive industries) and in households that use energy for heating and hot water supply (1.4-fold growth in Q1 2024). Energy consumption for EV charging has almost doubled,” the energy minister cited a number of examples.