04.08.2023 12:37
Baltic prime ministers: we will leave the Russian electricity grid by early 2025 at the latest
The Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian prime ministers signed a joint declaration agreeing on the actions and the deadline for accelerating the connection to the continental European electricity grid. Estonia will leave the Russian electricity grid almost a year earlier than planned.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said that strengthening the electricity connections of the Baltic countries and joining the continental European grid will increase our cooperation and trust and the energy security of our countries. “We’re working with Lithuania and Latvia to end any dependence on Russian energy,” said Kallas. “Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and its use of energy as a weapon proves that it’s a dangerous and unpredictable country, and therefore being on the Russian electricity grid is a risk for Estonian consumers.”
The connection of the Baltic countries to the Continental European Grid was agreed upon between the European Commission, Poland, and the three Baltic States in 2019. At the time, the end of 2025 was set as the deadline for the connection, but due to Russia’s aggression, the Baltic States are now collectively seeking to speed it up. The current agreement follows the decision taken by the Baltic prime ministers in Tallinn on 12 May to speed up the synchronization and is being worked on by the climate and energy ministers and TSOs of the three countries.
“Over the past months, we’ve been looking for ways to bring the connection to the Continental European system forward,” said the Prime Minister. The TSOs carried out a number of additional analyses that provided assurance that we’ll achieve the necessary technical capacity in early 2025, i.e. synchronization can be accelerated by almost a year. In the meantime, TSOs in the Baltic States and Poland will continue to strengthen the system, which is necessary to reduce risks such as power outages and price increases. It’s important that the Baltic States work together to speed up synchronization so that we can further reduce risks. We agreed with the prime ministers that we’ll leave the Russian network as soon as the technical capacity is in place.”
The Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian prime ministers signed a joint declaration on 3 August agreeing on the principles for speeding up synchronization. The joint declaration is complemented by the agreement between the Baltic TSOs. The joint declaration of the prime ministers can be read here.