On Thursday 3 August, the European Commission welcomed the agreement reached by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to speed up the integration of their electricity networks into the continental European network (CEN) and their disconnection from Russia and Belarus.
As established by political declarations in 2018 and 2019, the Prime Ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania signed a joint declaration bringing forward the deadline for synchronisation to February 2025 instead of the end of 2025.
Although now linked to its European partners by power lines with Poland, Sweden and Finland, the Baltic States region has an electricity network which, for historical reasons, is still operated in synchronous mode with the Russian and Belarusian systems.
“The desynchronisation of the Baltic States’ electricity grid from these systems and the synchronisation with the continental European network (CEN) is an essential political priority for the achievement of the Energy Union”, says a European Commission press release.
The connection of the Baltic States to the European continental network has been agreed between the European Commission, Poland and the three Baltic States since 2018 and was strengthened in 2019.
These network reinforcements form part of a project of common interest (PCI) on the Union’s fifth PCI list under the TEN-E Regulation. They have received total financial support of more than €1.2 billion from the Connecting Europe Energy Facility.
“The full integration of the Baltic States into the internal energy market will also facilitate the uptake of renewable energy, supporting them achieve the European Green Deal objectives”, explains the European Commission’s press release. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)