Estonian minister okays plan to set up Baltic electricity system joint coordination center

TALLINN - Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas gave permission to transmission system operator (TSO) Elering to establish a Baltic Regional Coordination Center (RCC) together with the Latvian and Lithuanian TSOs.

In November 2021, the Baltic electricity TSOs Elering, Augstsprieguma Tikls (AST) and Litgrid entered into an agreement to establish a Baltic Regional Coordination Center (RCC) based in Tallinn and submitted a corresponding proposal to the competition authorities of the three countries.

The Baltic RCC is one of six European coordination centers that must jointly ensure the reliability of the trans-European electricity system. Establishment of regional coordination centers derives from the European Union's Clean Energy Package regulations and are aimed at performing tasks related to planning of power system operations.

Regional coordination centers do not replace TSOs but shall complement the role of them by performing coordination tasks of regional relevance.

The Baltic regional coordination center will promote joint activities of the Baltic TSOs in keeping the Baltic power system operational, secure and reliable. More importantly, the coordination center will be the main hub driving the synchronization process of the Baltic power system with power system of continental Europe, which is the most ambitious common goal set by the three Baltic TSOs.

It has been agreed that all Baltic TSOs shall have an equal number of shares within the Baltic RCC. The everyday operations of RCC shall be arranged with representation of equal number of experts from all three Baltic states and with rotating management between three Baltic states consecutively.