At a July 13 meeting in Brussels, representatives of the Baltic States, Poland and the European Commission pledged to work toward accelerating the synchronization of the electricity systems of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with continental Europe, but no formal decision was made to change the current deadline.
“At the meeting, there was no consensus on moving forward the previously agreed-upon date, but it was agreed to work on the details of a potential earlier date, which could be discussed at the political level at the end of July,” Timo Tatar, undersecretary for the Climate Ministry, said.
Tatar explained that the purpose of the meeting of senior officials from the Baltic States, Poland and the European Commission in Brussels was to discuss the possibility of bringing forward the target date for synchronization set at the May meeting of Baltic prime ministers in Tallinn.
Current plans call for the synchronization to occur at the end of 2025, but the Lithuanian parliament passed a resolution in June declaring that it could be completed as early as the first half of 2024.
During the meeting, the undersecretary added, Lithuania confirmed that it had no plans to separate independently its electricity system from the BRELL system, which connected the Baltic States and the Russian and Belarusian electricity grids, and that synchronization with continental Europe could only occur in conjunction with the other Baltic States.
Tatar said that in order to identify opportunities for earlier switching, electricity system administrators in the Baltic States had conducted a series of studies, the results of which were presented at the meeting.
In his written comments, the undersecretary said that experts from the European Commission, Latvia and Estonia estimated that the intended synchronization date could be pushed earlier by about a year. The primary cause for expediting synchronization is the earlier completion date for the reconstruction of the third Estonia-Latvia electricity interconnection.
Previously, the deadline for synchronization was set for the end of 2025; however, experts from the European Commission, Latvia and Estonia believe it is possible to move the planned synchronization to the beginning of 2025; however, no formal agreement has been reached as of yet. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
