Lithuanian PM says power grid synchronization could be completed before 2025

VILNIUS - Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte believes that the project for synchronizing the Baltic electricity grids with the Western European system could be completed earlier than in 2025.

Lithuania will next year announce specific dates for its disconnection from the so-called BRELL ring, the common energy system with Russia and Belarus, and synchronization with the continental European grid, according to Simonyte. 

"Next year, we will announce a concrete date when Lithuania will leave the BRELL ring and synchronize its electricity grid with the West," the prime minister said on Thursday at the GreenTech Vilnius forum organized by the Valstybe magazine. 

"It was planned earlier that this process would be completed in 2025, but we have worked really hard and I think we have successfully done our homework and I believe that the synchronization can be completed earlier," Simonyte said. 

"This is why we are cooperating intensively with our partners in Latvia and Estonia, because I believe it is a common priority for all of us to complete the synchronization as soon as possible and thus minimize Russia's ability to terrorize the Baltic states over to their dependence on the BRELL ring," she added. 

Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys said earlier this month that Lithuania aimed to synchronize its grid in February 2024, but added that Latvia and Estonia had doubts about the date, with the strongest opposition coming from Estonia's transmission system operator Elering.  

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are still part of the post-Soviet IPS/UPS system, or the BRELL ring, where the electricity frequency is centrally regulated by Russia. 

The Baltic countries set late 2025 as the target date of connecting their grids to the continental European system, but Lithuania is seeking to accelerate the process.