As the three Baltic countries prepare to synchronize their power grids with the Continental European system, the so-called “connection agreement” has come into force, Lithuania’s power transmission system operator Litgrid said.
“We have reached an irreversible phase of the project and now all efforts must be concentrated on the implementation of specific technical works, the list of which is now final, by 2025,” Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas said.
Operators of Poland, the three Baltic countries and supporting parties have signed the Agreement on the Conditions for a Future Synchronous Interconnection of the power system of the Baltic States and the power system of Continental Europe.
Lithuania already meets 169, or 40% of the 409 requirements laid down in the so-called “catalog of measures”. Latvia and Estonia are in a similar situation.
The first stage of the synchronization project calls for upgrading and reinforcing the Baltic countries’ domestic electricity networks by 2021. The second stage involves increasing the capacity of the LitPol Link interconnection between Lithuania and Poland, building nine synchronous compensators in the Baltic countries and carrying out a joint test of isolation operation of the system.
In the third stage, expected to be completed by 2025, a new submarine cable, named Harmony Link, between Lithuania and Poland is to be built and the remaining measures are to be implemented.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have agreed to synchronize their power systems with the European network by 2025. The Baltic grids are still synchronously connected to the post-Soviet BRELL ring, which also includes Russia and Belarus.
