Lithuania will cut last ties with Russia with synchronization - TSO - BNS INTERVIEW

VILNIUS - The planned synchronization of the Baltic electricity grids with Western Europe, scheduled for this weekend, will be a geopolitical rather than a technological change, says Rokas Masiulis, CEO of Litgrid, Lithuania's electricity transmission system operator, given the absence of any commercial trade with Russia and Belarus for some time now and the fact that some of the lines connecting to these countries are no longer operational.

"We are already connected to Poland (via LitPol Link - BNS). After the synchronization, we will be connected to Poland via the same link. (...) We won't have any radical technical change. It will be geopolitical to a large extent, and in energy terms it will be very important because this is the last umbilical cord linking (the Baltic states - BNS) with Russia. In political terms, it's a big change, in technological terms, it's not much of a change on the last day," Masiulis said in an interview with BNS.

"We are cutting our last remaining links with Russia," said the Litgrid CEO, who also led the construction of the Klaipeda LNG terminal allowing the FSRU Independence ship to cement Lithuania's independence from Russian gas.

According to Masiulis, the Baltic power grid's isolated operation test, scheduled on Saturday, should last up to 30 hours, and the Baltic power networks should be synchronous with Europe by Sunday afternoon.

"Something radical is not going to happen technically, and there's no need for any fear that some radical and defining test. No, we have done all the work. We have already cut all our lines with Belarus, and we have one out of eleven remaining. The key synchronization work has already been done," Masiulis said.

He does not expect any provocations from Russia during the weekend processes.

"As long as we are part of one system, there cannot be any provocations because (Russia - BNS) will harm itself, and we don’t see any. The process is going smoothly enough", the Litgrid CEO said.

Under the plan, he said, the LitPol Link with Poland, previously intended only for synchronization, will be partly used for commercial trade from March. The Baltic countries will have to operate in isolated mode during the cable's repairs, Masiulis said.

"We have calculated that the link used to go down about once every three years. We do not plan for frequent failures," Masiulis said.

In his words, the Harmony Link between Lithuania and Poland, one of the biggest synchronization projects that have not yet been implemented, will be built using the infrastructure of the Via Baltica international highway, rather than the European Rail Baltica track, as previously planned.

"We are building the Via Baltica faster, it's practically finished, it's just easier to build there. We think it will be easier to adapt the cable infrastructure to the road infrastructure than that of the railway," Masiulis explained.

The Litgrid CEO also said that the joint power plant that Lithuania has proposed to Latvia and Estonia to build would probably be a gas-fired power plant to ensure flexible electricity production in the absence of wind and solar, given the current state of technology.

"A gas-fired power plant will never be a bad option in all worst-case scenarios, especially if it does not cost much. We will always have gas, and it (the plant - BNS) would be a backup option that would not compete with the renewable (capacity - BNS), but will only complement it when we have no sun and wind. It would make the system more reliable," Masiulis said.

"Nuclear and gas are such stable generation (technologies - BNS). We don't see any new nuclear technologies, there won't be any new technologies until 2040, but gas technologies are already there, that's the most realistic option," the Litgrid CEO added.

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 synchronically with the continental European grid on Sunday afternoon.