Baltic
states leave Russian power grid in closer EU integration
Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania disconnected from Russia’s network on Saturday, ending
energy dependency and aiding security
Reuters
Sat 8 Feb
2025 14.48 GMT
The three
Baltic states have disconnected their electricity systems from Russia’s power
grid as part of a plan designed to integrate the countries more closely with
the EU and boost security.
Estonia,
Latvia and Lithuania disconnected from the IPS/UPS joint network on Saturday.
Subject to last-minute tests, they will synchronise with the EU’s grid at 12.00
GMT on Sunday after operating on their own in the interim.
The European
Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, will speak at a ceremony on Sunday
to mark the switch to the EU system.
“We’ve
reached the goal we strived for, for so long. We are now in control,” the
Lithuanian energy minister, Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, told a press conference.
Immediately
after disconnecting, Latvian workers used a crane to reach the high-voltage
wires in Vilaka, close to the Russian border, and cut them. They handed out
chopped wire as keepsakes to cheering onlookers.
“We will
never use it again. We are moving on,” Latvia’s energy minister, Kaspars
Melnis, said.
Plans for
the Baltics to decouple from the grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord,
which have been debated for decades, gained momentum after Moscow’s annexation
of Crimea in 2014.
The grid was
the only remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which re-emerged as
independent nations in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, and
joined the EU and Nato in 2004.
The three
staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped buying power from Russia after Moscow’s
full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but have relied on the Russian grid to
control frequencies and stabilise networks to avoid outages.
“By ending
the energy dependence of the Baltic states on Russia, we are leaving the
aggressor without the option of using energy as a weapon against us,” the
Estonia’s foreign minister, Margus Tsahkna, said.
An army
truck was seen at the Rezekne power substation near the Latvia-Russia border,
and officers with guns were patrolling the vicinity and in the nearby town,
indicative of Baltic worries of attempted sabotage to the switch.
The Baltic
Sea region is on high alert after power cable, telecom links and gas pipeline
outages to Sweden or Finland. All were believed to have been caused by ships
dragging anchors along the seabed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia
has denied any involvement.
“The system
is stable, the process is happening smoothly, no one is noticing that something
changed,” Melnis said.
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 with what the Baltics can do on their own,
analysts say.
Lithuania’s
energy ministry said it has drawn up contingency plans whereby some heavy
energy users, such as factories, could be temporarily disconnected from the
grid in the event of power shortages to maintain essential supplies.
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 Baltic
countries have spent nearly €1.6bn since 2018 to upgrade grids to prepare for
the switch, while Russia has spent 100bn roubles ($1bn), including on the
building of several gas-fired power plants in Kaliningrad.
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