Shozo Saito, chairman of the board of Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy and Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas

Lithuania and an alliance of Japanese Hitachi and U.S. General Electric hope to sign a deal by end-2012 on building a 1,300 megawatt nuclear plant by 2020, a partner said on Thursday.

Lithuania wants to build a new nuclear power plant to cut energy dependence on Russia, with Baltic states and Poland.

"We are excited about the nuclear project in Lithuania," Shozo Saito, chairman of the board of Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, told an energy conference in Lithuania capital.

Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas, at the same conference, said the government planned to sign the nuclear plant deal by end this year.

"I hope so," Saito told Reuters, when asked, if he saw that date as possible.

However, Sekmokas said that the signing of shareholders and concession agreements might be delayed to the beginning of 2012, if Lithuania's regional partners need more time.

Both Latvia and Estonia have indicated they were interested in the project, but Poland, which plans its own nuclear plants, has not made a final decision.

Read more at:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/10/lithuania-nuclear-idUSL6E7MA1H920111110