Baltic PMs say they want to speed up power grid synchronization

  • 2023-05-12
  • LETA/BNS/TBT Staff

VILNIUS - The Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian prime ministers agree that the Baltic electricity grids should be synchronized with the Continental European system as quickly as possible, but they give no date for when this could happen.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said there is no disagreement among the Baltic countries, but it is important to wait for the results of the ongoing technical feasibility studies on system adequacy, stability and pricing.

"We don't have a disagreement; we have an agreement. It is a Baltic project, everybody of us wants to accelerate this and we do everything that is possible to have technical conditions ready to accelerate this, and that's why we are waiting for the studies," Kallas told a press conference in Tallinn on Friday.

"It is not political issue. It is a technical issue whether it's doable and what we have to do, and after those studies, we can agree on a specific timeline," she added.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins also said that all Baltic countries have the political will to accelerate the process, but when this will happen is a technical issue that is currently being dealt with.

"We are all in agreement that we need to move as quickly as is feasible on technical level, but certainly the political will and determination is there among all of us," he said.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said that disconnection from the Russian and Belarusian electricity grids is the basis for security and energy independence, because Moscow uses energy as a weapon.

"We have direct experience, unfortunately, of how Russia weaponizes energy," Simonyte said.

"Also, this winter we witnessed Russia's systematic attempts to destroy Ukraine's energy infrastructure, so we cannot ignore even this slightest possibility that Russia could also exploit our dependence on its electricity networks at the most critical moments," she added.

In Simonyte's words, all three Baltic countries want the synchronization to take place as soon as possible, but "the devil is in the details", which have to be clarified by the ongoing technical feasibility studies.

According to the Estonian prime minister, the results of the study should be available in June.

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.

Lithuania aims to complete the power grid synchronization in 2024.