Baltics will control their system without relying on Russia - Lithuanian president

VILNIUS - The whole point of the Baltic countries' synchronization with continental Europe, scheduled for this weekend, is that they will control the electricity grid themselves without relying on Russian regulation, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says.

"Litgrid's control room will also be an important element of our synchronization with continental Europe as it will see how the process is going, will see the parameters, and in case of ant deviation from the norm, it will be able to take action," Nausėda told reporters during his visit to Litgrid's system management and data security center on Friday.

"This will be the whole point of synchronization, for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to be able to control the basic parameters of the electricity system, its frequency and voltage, instead of relying on Russian regulation," Nauseda said.

The president said he had been assured by the energy minister and the heads of other institutions that Lithuania is "100 percent ready for synchronization and that this event will be not only important but also successful".

Nauseda agrees that Poland is an important partner in the implementation of Lithuania's major energy projects.

"With no doubt, in terms of synchronization, Poland's role has also been critical. When there were all sorts of discussions about which model we would use for synchronization, Poland was always the country that was ready to help us implement this decision in one or the other model," the president said.

"Poland's moral and technical support has been crucial to the success of this project," he added.

On Sunday, the Baltic countries synchronize their grids with Western Europe via the Lithuanian-Polish electricity link LitPol Link.

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will disconnect from the Russian electricity system (IPS/UPS) at around 9 a.m. on Saturday, February 8. This will be followed by a joint isolated test last for about 24 hours, and then the Baltic countries will not return to the old system and start operating in synchronization with the continental European grid on Sunday afternoon.