Estonian minister wants agreement of Baltic TSOs on synchronization by August 3

TALLINN - Estonia's Climate Minister Kristen Michal considers it important that the agreement between the electricity transmission system operators (TSOs) of the Baltic countries to bring forward the date of the synchronization of the Baltic grids with the electricity system of continental Europe be signed by August 3 of this year.

The minister has asked the Estonian TSO, Elering, to immediately enter into negotiations with the Latvian and Lithuanian system operators in order to set out the earlier deadline and other necessary joint actions to achieve the goal of the synchronization of the Baltic states with the grid of continental Europe in an agreement between them.

The system operators' agreement will also be an important input to the subsequent political agreement of the Baltic prime ministers, Michal said in the communication.

At a Baltic energy ministers' meeting in Riga on July 25, a political agreement in principle was reached between the Baltic countries on earlier deadlines for the synchronization.

According to the agreement, the decoupling of the Baltic countries from the Russian electricity system and synchronization with the frequency area of continental Europe would take place in February 2025. According to the plan, the withdrawal from the BRELL electricity grid agreement of Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania must be notified in August 2024.

There is also a political consensus among the Baltic states to request an exemption from the European Commission regulations so that the Baltic states are not subject to the reserve holding obligations set forth in the regulations before the end of 2025. The derogation is aimed at reducing the costs of the accelerated synchronization.

Previously, an agreement signed in 2018 by the Baltic countries, Poland and the European Commission foresaw synchronization with the frequency area of continental Europe by the end of 2025. However, since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the risk picture for Europe and the Baltics has changed significantly.

In the meantime, Lithuania also expressed a wish to exit the Russian and Belarusian electricity system as early as 2024. A compromise deadline of February 2025 has now been set.