On Monday 6 November, Lithuania's Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas said that Lithuania hopes to conclude a political agreement in spring 2018 with Estonia, Latvia, Poland and the European Commission on the synchronisation of Baltic electricity grids with the European continental network.
On the sidelines of the informal energy ministers' meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, in mid-September, the three Baltic countries and Poland agreed to move in this direction by deciding to go ahead with a new study to determine the best option for disconnecting Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia from Russia's Brell energy grid, which also includes Belarus.
At the end of September, the electricity transmission system operators from the Baltic countries and Poland decided to launch a dynamic study that is due to be completed in spring 2018.
This technical-level assessment is a necessary step to be taken before officially asking the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) for connection conditions, Vaiciunas stated in an interview with Baltic News.
"We believe that after that assessment is completed next March, we will be able to reach a political solution among the three Baltic states, Poland and the European Commission, which would mean that that we have made a decision not only on the direction of the synchronisation with the European continental network, but also on specific technical solutions," he said.
The three Baltic countries, which have thus far failed to come to an agreement on scenarios for synchronisation, are now in agreement on three options including one or two lines for inter-connection between Lithuania and Poland, LitPol Link and the current interconnection, plus a direct current maritime cable between Poland and Lithuania.
In mid-September, European Commission Vice-President responsible for Energy Maroš Šefčovič said it was important for the Baltic countries and Poland to reach an agreement by summer 2018 in order to respond to the call for proposals for 2019 for the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)