Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia disconnected from the Russian power system: decades of preparation

Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas confirmed that on February 8, all the Baltic states disconnected from the Russian power grid. This has not been done since Soviet times.

"I have just had a meeting with the ministers of Latvia and Estonia. The good news is that at 9.9 am. The Baltic states disconnected from the Russian and Belarusian systems," Vaičiūnas said, according to LRT.

After an isolated test of activity, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will not return to the old system – they will start working synchronously with the networks of continental Europe and become completely energy-independent from Russia. The synchronization is scheduled for Sunday around 2 p.m.

"Today we have the beginning of the end, and tomorrow at noon it will be the end of the end and a new beginning," Rokas Masiulis, head of Lithuanian transmission system operator Litgrid, said on Saturday.

"We are disconnecting from the network to which we have been connected for almost half a century or more. Perhaps an equally important moment will happen tomorrow, when we will join the grid of continental Europe," said Mindaugas Keizeris, chairman of the state-owned energy group Epso-G.

"First, we disconnected one line, then after 10-15 minutes – another line, and again after the same time – the third line. Then, about half an hour later, we cut off the Belarusian line," he said.

The Latvian state-owned electricity transmission network operator Augstsprieguma tikls (AST) also reported that the disconnection from the Russian power grid was successful and did not cause any problems in the Latvian power system.

According to Donato Matelionis, head of the system management department at Litgrid, on Saturday, the technical disconnection of components of power lines with Russia and Belarus took place, and the physical connecting wires are planned to be disconnected by the end of February.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the Kaliningrad region's need for electricity is also explained by the presence of Iskander nuclear missiles and a large part of the Russian Baltic Fleet. After being disconnected from the Russian power grid, it will become an "energy island" – that is, a power grid without external connections. It is more difficult to operate, as it cannot rely on cross-border flows to balance fluctuations in electricity demand and supply.

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