Baltic States Synchronise Power Grids with Continental Europe in Historic Move
EU and NATO members Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia synchronised their power grids with continental Europe on Sunday after 2pm, LRT reports.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Mihal called it a ‘momentous day’, while his predecessor in the post, now the EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called it a ‘victory for freedom and European unity’.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Gintautas Palutskas expressed his belief that the disconnection of the three Baltic States from the Russian energy system strengthens the energy security of the Baltic states.
‘A few minutes ago, I received great news - the synchronisation of the Baltic power grid with the networks of continental Europe has been successfully completed,’ Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told reporters.
He called the synchronisation a historic moment that marks the end of a long journey of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia towards energy independence.
‘The times of political pressure and blackmail are finally over,’ Nausėda said.
He thanked everyone involved in the project, from technical staff to former or current leaders.
The day before, the three Baltic States had disconnected from the Soviet-era Russian electricity system (UES/UPS). This system began operating during the Soviet era, uninterrupted on Saturday morning and operated in isolation until Sunday afternoon.
Currently, the Baltic States are connected to the continental European synchronous zone via the Lithuanian-Polish power line LitPol Link.
In addition to the Lithuania-Poland LitPol Link overland power connection, through which the synchronisation took place, the Baltic States are also connected to Northern Europe via the Lithuania-Sweden NordBalt offshore connection and the Estonia-Finland EstLink 1 and EstLink2 offshore connections.
