Using fuel oil, or mazut, for district heating in Vilnius during the coming winter season will help keep heating bills for households down, according to Mayor Remigijus Simasius.
“We can see that prices for all energy resources are absurdly high. This is affecting us in Vilnius just as much as anywhere else. It’s just that we’re probably even in a slightly better position when it comes to heating, because we can burn low-sulphur fuel oil which is not as harmful to the environment,” Simasius told reporters.
“If all the necessary documentation from the Environment Ministry is in order, there is a chance that the price of heating this year will not rise compared to last season’s price, which, we have to admit, was also high, and it may even fall slightly,” he added.
Vilniaus Silumos Tinklai (VST), the capital’s heat supplier, expects to save 100 million in fuel costs by burning fuel oil for district heating, but it will have to pay more for pollution, meaning that heating bills in the city will be similar to those in the last heating season, Gerimantas Bakanas, the company’s CEO, says.
Fuel oil could cost the capital an estimated 90 million to 100 million euros, half the cost of natural gas, estimated at around 200 million euros, according to him.
The government in July allowed municipal heating supply companies to buy fuel oil and diesel fuel through a negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice in order to avoid a sharp increase in costs due to spiraling natural gas prices. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
