Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says he has informed Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson about disagreements between the two countries over the sharing of surplus profits generated by electricity producers.
“Today I informed the Swedish prime minister about the problem and he promised to look into it,” the president told reporters in Brussels on December 15 evening after the European Council’s meeting.
“The Swedish prime minister, which was a bit of a surprise to me, knew nothing about it. Of course, he immediately contacted his team and promised to look into the matter,” Nauseda said.
“Probably the coordination of the issue is taking place at the ministerial level, and until a solution is found, there remains a necessity to bring in the European Commission, but maybe as good neighbours and strategic partners we can reach a deal without the intervention of a third party,” he said.
In late September, EU energy ministers agreed on a market revenue cap of 180 euros per megawatt-hour “for electricity generators, including intermediaries, that use so-called inframarginal technologies to produce electricity, such as renewables, nuclear and lignite”.
The respective regulation approved in Brussels says that “in situations where a member state’s net import dependence is equal or higher than 100%, an agreement to share the surplus revenues adequately shall be concluded until December 1, between the importing member state and the main exporting country”.
“The Commission shall assist member states throughout the negotiation process, encourage and facilitate the exchange of best practices,” it reads.
Both Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys and Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte have said that Lithuania should first negotiate on the sharing of “excess profits” with Sweden, its main electricity importer.
However, Kreivys says that Lithuania and Sweden disagree on the concept of the main exporting country, which is not clearly defined in EU documents.
This is because part of the electricity flow from Sweden comes not only via a submarine power cable, but also by a circular route through Latvia, according to the minister.
Lithuania imports electricity from Sweden via the 700 MW NordBalt cable, and electricity also enters the country via interconnectors with Latvia and Poland. (LRT/Business World Magazine)