Baltic states switch to European power grid, ending Russia ties (updated)

Litgrid AB

09/02/2025 13:22

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      Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania left Russian power grid on
Saturday
    

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      Integrated on Sunday with European grid
    

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      Switch cut Soviet legacy tie
    

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      EU's von der Leyen hails Baltic energy freedom 
    

  
 (Adds EU commission president in paragraphs 2-3, detail on
Russia separation in paragraphs 13-15)
    By Andrius Sytas and Janis Laizans
       VILNIUS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
said on Sunday they had successfully synchronised their
electricity systems to the European continental power grid, one
day after severing decades-old energy ties to Russia and
Belarus.
    European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed
the move, years in the planning, as marking a new era of freedom
for the region, in a speech at a ceremony in Vilnius alongside
the leaders of the three countries.
    "These chains of power lines linking you to hostile
neighbours will be a thing of the past," von der Leyen said.
    Debated for many years, the complex switch away from the
grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord gained momentum
following Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its invasion
of Ukraine in 2022.
    It is designed to integrate the three Baltic nations more
closely with the European Union and to boost the region's energy
security.
        After disconnecting on Saturday from the IPS/UPS
network, established by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and now
run by Russia, the Baltic nations cut cross-border high-voltage
transmission lines in eastern Latvia, some 100 metres from the
Russian border, handing out pieces of chopped wire to
enthusiastic bystanders as keepsakes.
        
    
    The Baltic Sea region is on high alert following power
cable, telecom and gas pipeline outages between the Baltics and
Sweden or Finland. All were believed to have been caused by
ships dragging anchors along the seabed following Russia's
invasion of Ukraine. 
    Russia has denied any involvement. 
    Poland and the Baltics deployed navy assets, elite police
units and helicopters to monitor the area after an undersea
power link from Finland to Estonia was damaged in December,
while Lithuania's military began drills to protect the overland
connection to Poland. 
    Analysts say any further damage to links could push power
prices in the Baltics to levels not seen since the invasion of
Ukraine, when energy prices soared.
    The IPS/UPS grid was the final remaining link to Russia for
the three countries, which re-emerged as independent nations in
the early 1990s at the fall of the Soviet Union, and joined the
European Union and NATO in 2004.
    The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of
power from Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, but
have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and
stabilise networks to avoid outages.
    Analysts say that maintaining a constant power supply
requires a stable grid frequency, which can more easily be
obtained over time in a large synchronised area such as Russia
or continental Europe, compared to what the Baltics can do on
their own.
    For Russia, the decoupling means its Kaliningrad exclave,
located between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea, is cut off
from Russia's main grid, leaving it to maintain its power system
alone.
    The Kremlin said it has taken all necessary measures to
ensure uninterrupted, reliable operation in its electricity
system, including the construction of several gas-fired power
plants in Kaliningrad.

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Baltic States electricity interconnectors    https://reut.rs/416cHyZ
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 (Reporting by Andrius Sytas and Janis Laizans in Vilnius;
Editing by Terje Solsvik, David Holmes and Clelia Oziel)
 ((terje.solsvik@thomsonreuters.com; +47 918 666 70;))