The energy ministers of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia agreed on July 22 to strengthen joint reserve capacities for their power systems and to explore sharing emergency grid equipment in the event of major disruptions.
Meeting in Riga, Lithuanian Energy Minister Lukas Savickas and his Latvian and Estonian counterparts signed a declaration committing the three countries to jointly assess their needs for transformers, transmission towers, generators and other emergency equipment required during threats, accidents or system failures.
“Joint reserves and an agreement to coordinate actions during emergencies will help ensure a more reliable energy supply for the public, while joint decisions will allow for more efficient and cost-effective strengthening of energy infrastructure security,” Savickas said in a statement.
Under the agreement, the Baltic transmission system operators will evaluate their reserve requirements and then prepare a joint application for European Union funding to purchase and maintain the equipment.
The ministers also discussed the protection of strategic energy facilities. Lithuania’s Energy Ministry said the ministers agreed that drones have “become a new security reality” and that protection against them is now “an integral part of critical infrastructure protection at the regional level”.
The agreement comes amid heightened concern over potential threats to critical infrastructure across the Baltic region.
Leaders of NATO’s eastern flank countries have recently warned of possible Russian provocations, while Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has said that the country’s critical transport and energy infrastructure could become targets of both conventional and nonconventional attacks.
Since June, the Lithuanian military has been helping protect several key energy facilities, including the liquefied natural gas terminal in Klaipeda, the LitPol Link electricity interconnection switchyard in Alytus, a transformer substation and the Kruonis pumped-storage hydroelectric plant. (LRT)