Work being done to synchronize the Baltic States’ electricity grids with those of the rest of the European Union means that the number of electricity connections between Estonia and Latvia will be cut from three to two, through to year-end 2025.
Implicit in the synchronization with “continental” Europe is the need to de-couple from the Russian and Belarusian electricity networks, a project that was already underway before the start of the invasion of Ukraine in February but which had been given added impetus by it.
Elo Ellermaa, spokesperson for grid distributor Elering said: “Reconstructing power lines means that through to the end of 2025, one out of three direct connections will be permanently off-line, and capacity will be lower by that proportion. Other factors will affect the transmission capacity, also.”
“These include the maintenance of other lines, or faults in Estonia, Latvia or even in the Russian Federation, because we are still connected to the Russian network. The ambient temperature also plays its part – for example, during summer heatwaves, transmission power must be cut down to avoid power cables overheating,” Ellermaa continued.
The plan for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to de-couple from the Russian grid and synchronize to the European one are still both scheduled to take place at year-end 2025, and to that end Elering is to install three synchronous condensers within the next couple of years, to maintain inertia.
The first of these condensers is due to be ready in the first quarter of 2023.
Of the three cross-border electricity links between Estonia and its southern neighbor, line L301, which runs from Tartu to Valmiera, Latvia, has been off-line for a year already, ahead of the synchronization work. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
