Lithuania focused on synchronizing its power grids with Europe as soon as possible - energy minister
VILNIUS. June 23 (Interfax/BNS) - Lithuania is not buying electricity from Russia and is seeking to synchronize its power grid with Europe as soon as possible, Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys said.
Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee head Leonid Slutsky said on Wednesday that Lithuania's disconnection from the common BRELL power ring linking the power grids of Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, was among possible countermeasures Moscow was considering in the wake of the restriction of shipments of goods between the Kaliningrad region and the rest of Russia via Lithuania.
"Lithuania today does not pay a penny to Russia for its energy resources. Trade in electricity with Russia and Belarus has been stopped, so the physical flows of the BRELL ring through the Baltic states have actually been eliminated," Kreivys said in a commentary for BNS.
Lithuania is currently focused on synchronizing its power system with Europe earlier than planned, and the project is now expected to be completed by the end of 2025, he said.
Lithuania has already taken over a large part of the management of its power system by implementing the most important synchronization projects, such as connection with Poland. The operators of three countries have abandoned Russia's system services, and the Lithuanian system is being balanced by other forces, he said. Some other projects necessary to ensure Lithuania's energy security have also been completed.
Kreivys has said previously that, in order for the Baltic states to synchronize their power grids with mainland Europe and disconnect from the BRELL ring by 2025, they are planning to conduct an isolated system test and install 200 MW accumulators, i.e. four batteries with the aggregate capacity of 200 MW, by the end of this year.
In addition, Lithuania still needs to install three synchronous compensators in 2023-2024, and its largest synchronization project, i.e. the construction of the Harmony Link maritime link, is expected to be signed this year, he said.