Lithuania still hopes to convince Estonia, Latvia to speed up synchronization – PM

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on Thursday that she still hopes to convince her Latvian and Estonian counterparts to agree to the Baltic electricity grids' accelerated synchronization with the continental European system. 

"It would be optimal for the Baltic states to make decisions together," Simonyte told the Ziniu Radijas radio station. "To facilitate the decisions, it was important to get studies done by different institutions."

"In our assessment, all the studies are positive about the possibility to accelerate synchronization (...), but there are still discussions with colleagues in the Baltic countries," the prime minister said.

"I am not giving up hope to convince (Latvia and Estonia) that it can be done as early as possible. We still have some time and we are discussing these issues, negotiating at different levels and trying to convince our colleagues," she added.

Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys has said recently that Lithuania has to decide this year whether or not to renew the post-Soviet BRELL agreement if it wants to synchronize the power grid with the continental European system in 2024.

Signed back in February 2001, the treaty defines how Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia and Belarus operate in the IPS/UPS system, or the so-called BRELL ring, where electricity frequency is centrally regulated in Russia. 

The treaty is automatically renewed each year if none of the signatories notifies its withdrawal by August, six months before its expiry. If Lithuania fails to do so this year, it will not be able to exit the treaty until 2025.

Under an agreement signed by the Baltic leaders and the European Commission in 2018, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are to synchronize their power grids with the continental European system by the end of 2025. 

However, Lithuania aims to complete the process in the first half of 2024.