The entire Baltic power grid is basically ready to disconnect from BRELL at any moment, as confirmed by the new chairman of Augstsprieguma tikls (AST) Rolands Irklis.
He said Russia’s provocations in relations to disconnecting from BRELL until February 2025 were considered a realistic scenario.
“We know there could be something unexpected from our neighbour. There could be an emergency de-synchronisation from BRELL network. As a result of this, we may have to rapidly synchronise with the European Union’s power grid,” said Irklis.
AST board chairman said that in the event of emergency de-synchronisation, it would be necessary to power up the infrastructure available in the EU and balance out the grid.
As for availability of electricity if Russia decided to disconnect Latvia from BRELL early, Irklis said power generation capacity was sufficient, especially in Latvia, which had both hydroelectric power plants and thermal power plants. Additionally, Baltic States have connections with Finland, Sweden and Poland.
“This means we are safe from a power sufficiency standpoint. What we will need to do is use the available infrastructure to balance out the grid and ensure its stability. Looking from this aspect, the power output is sufficient,” said Irklis.
At the same time, he said that this situation could affect electricity costs, but not the security of the power supply.
Irklis explained that the preparation for the disconnection from BRELL continues on multiple levels. This includes development of physical infrastructure and IT systems. There is also cooperation with Baltic States, Poland and other European operators in order to complete this project to the end.
Development of infrastructure is going well. Most tasks are expected to be completed until February 2025.
“Historically we’ve had projects like “Kurzeme grid” and the direct interconnection between Latvia and Estonia. These are highly important for Baltic States to synchronise their power grids with the rest of Europe,” said Irklis.
He said that Valmiera-Tartu connection’s reconstruction was complete. Reconstruction of Valmiera-Tsirgulina connection will be completed until the middle of the year. This means there will be three new connections with Estonia.
The project for synchronous compensators in each Baltic State – three in Estonia, three in Latvia and three in Lithuania – is currently in active development.
On top of that, there are also energy-accumulating battery systems. Their procurement is planned to be competed soon. The battery project is planned to be implemented until the end of 2025. This will provide the necessary infrastructure to stabilise the grid and ensure the necessary balancing output once we have synchronised with European networks.
Irklis mentioned the battery procurement was delayed slightly. It was initially planned to complete the project until the middle of 2023, but at the time there was only one contender and with a slightly higher price than initially planned. This is why the procurement has been terminated.
“Now we can say that although we’ve lost some time, we have definitely secured a more financially advantageous offer,” said Irklis.
At the same time, batteries will not be available when Latvia disconnects from BRELL. Irklis said initially it was planned to perform synchronisation with EU power grid at the end of 2025. However, in summer last year Baltic States agreed to speed up synchronisation and perform it until February 2025 because of geopolitical risks. (BNN/Business World Magazine)
