As of today, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are fully independent from Russia’s and Belarus’s electricity systems, a press release by the European Commission says.
It adds that the three states successfully integrated into the EU internal energy market by joining the European continental network via Poland.
“This allows the Baltic States to operate their own energy systems under common and transparent European rules. The synchronisation of the Baltics not only contributes to the security of supply of the entire Union, it will also support the integration of renewable energy in the system, ultimately allowing consumers to benefit from lower energy costs” it says.
The synchronisation of the Baltics into the EU’s electricity grid is a flagship project which has been supported by the Commission with unprecedented political, technical and financial backing over the past 15 years. This includes over €1.23 billion in grants from the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility, covering 75% of the investment costs, as well as further investments financed under the Recovery and Resilience Facility in Latvia and Lithuania to strengthen electricity infrastructure.
President Ursula von der Leyen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, and Commissioner for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, participated in the ‘Energy Independence Day’, the official ceremony marking the occasion in Lithuania today, together with the political leaders of the three Baltic States, Poland and other stakeholders involved in the project.
The Commission says that the Baltic States were the last three EU Member States whose electricity networks were still operating fully within the Russian and Belarussian system where the electricity frequency was centrally controlled by Russia, leaving them vulnerable to Russia’s weaponisation of energy.
“Synchronising their electricity networks with those of EU Member States and several neighbouring countries enables the Baltic States to move away from energy dependence on Russia. Instead, they gain full control of their own electricity networks and strengthen the energy security of the Eastern Baltic Sea region and the EU as a whole”.
“Today history is being made: the Baltic States are switching on energy independence. The last electricity grids in Europe still linked to Russia are now fully integrated into Europe’s internal energy market, with the support of over 1 billion euros of European funding over the years,” President of the European Commission said.
She added that “the last remaining electricity lines with Russia and Belarus will now be dismantled. These chains of power lines, linking the Baltic states to hostile neighbours will be a thing of the past. This is freedom. Freedom from threats and blackmail. Congratulations on the start of this new era.”
Also read: Russian reactions to Cyprus’ potential NATO membership
Source: CNA
