The prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed a joint declaration on August 3, agreeing to step up preparations and the deadline for joining the continental European power grid. Estonia is set to leave the Russian grid a year ahead of schedule.
The Baltic States joining the grid was agreed between the three countries, Poland and the European Commission back in 2019. The switch was initially meant to take place in late 2025, while Russia’s aggression motivated the Baltic States to try and expedite the process. The recent agreement comes on the heels of a decision from May 12 to step up the synchronization timeline, with the three countries’ climate and energy ministers and TSOs working on making it possible.
Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and its use of energy as a weapon “proves we are dealing with a dangerous and unpredictable state, which is why remaining in the Russian grid is a risk for consumers in Estonia”.
Kallas added that analyses by Baltic transmission system operators showed that the three states would have the technical capacity for the switch until early 2025, meaning that the synchronization could be brought up by roughly one year. Until then, Baltic and Polish TSOs will continue rendering their systems more robust, which is necessary to mitigate risks of outages and price hikes.
“It is important for the Baltic States to work together in speeding up the synchronization effort, which allows us to further manage risks. The prime ministers and I have agreed that we will desynchronize from the Russian (BRELL circle) grid as soon as it is technically possible,” the PM said.
The agreement between premiers follows a corresponding deal between the Baltic TSOs. (ERR/Business World Magazine)
