Dainius Kreivys, Kaspars Melnis, and Kristen Michal, the ministers in charge of energy of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, met in Jūrmala, Latvia on Wednesday to discuss the progress of synchronization projects and final preparations.
In the upcoming weeks, the Baltic transmission system operators will inform other parties of their joint decision not to renew the contract with the BRELL electricity supply loop connecting Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia with Belarus and Russia and to withdraw from the system.
After the non-renewal of the BRELL contract, the Baltic countries will run and isolated system work test and synchronize with the continental European grids in February 2025. The documents establishing this agreement were signed a year ago and the Baltic countries have been consistently preparing for this step.
The three Baltic countries are the last in the EU not to be connected to the European grid. Desynchronization could trigger a negative reaction from Russia and asymmetric counter-measures, experts say.
The entire desynchronization project will cost €1.6 billion. In Latvia, the total cost is €114 million, and 75% will be covered by the Connecting Europe Facility.
