3 Baltic states serve notices to Russia, Belarus to delink from their electrical grids

LONDON

The power grid operators of three Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, on Tuesday officially notified Moscow and Minsk of their withdrawal from the Soviet-era joint BRELL system, which will delink them from Russia and Belarus's electrical grids in February next year.

Baltic electricity transmission system operators Elering, AST, and Litgrid (Tso’s) announced in a joint statement that "decoupling" will take place on Feb. 8, 2025.

"At that time, the three Baltic states will decouple from the Russian and Belarusian grids and join the Continental Europe Synchronous Area. The TSOs of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have sent a notice of non-extension of the agreement on parallel energy system operation – known as the BRELL agreement – which has defined the terms of operation of the Baltic countries in Russia’s controlled electricity system IPS/UPS," said the release.

After nearly a decade of negotiations, the three Baltic states signed an agreement in 2018 to connect their power grids to the European Union by 2025.

At the time, the European Union pledged 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) to prepare the countries for decoupling from Russia and Belarus, which account for about 75% of the total costs, according to the statement.

"The Baltic electricity market has adapted and operates without electricity import from Russia,” according to the notice signed on Tuesday by the leaders of the three TSOs in Riga, the Latvian capital.

Since Russia launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, Latvia has completely stopped importing and exporting electricity from Russia and Belarus, and according to the release, "synchronization with Continental Europe" is the final step toward the country's independence in the field of electricity supply.

As a result of the close cooperation and efforts of Baltic, Polish and Continental European operators, the project is in its final phase, and “the announcement of the non-renewal of the BRELL contract is a confirmation of the readiness of the Baltic states," said Rolands Irklis, chairman of the Board of Latvian transmission system operator JSC Augstsprieguma tikls (AST) in the same release.

Synchronization will ensure better transmission with the Continental Europe Area, allowing for independent, stable, and reliable frequency control of the Baltic electricity systems, ultimately increasing energy security in the region, according to Latvian national broadcaster LSM.

It will also foster better EU transmission system interconnectivity and market integration, the broadcaster added.