The EU is putting one million euros into research into connecting the Baltic states to the European power system

The European Commission has decided to put around one million euros into conducting comprehensive research into connecting the Baltic states to the electricity system of Central Europe. This is the first practical step towards the strategic goal of releasing Estonia from the unified energy system of Russia.

This goal is part of the wider objective of developing a single European electricity grid and single electricity market, which will greatly enhance our energy security.   

The application by the TSOs of the Baltic States calls for full technical feasibility studies, which are necessary for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to be connected to the synchronised operation of the Central European electricity system.   Taavi Veskimägi, chairman of the steering committee for research and of the board of Elering, said that before this step can be taken it will be necessary to improve connections between the Baltic states, and also to strengthen the electricity grid all the way through Poland to Germany, at least for the existing production capacity in the Baltic states. 

Electrical connections and possibilities for trade with Russia should certainly not be cut once the synchronous operation has ended, and the existing alternating current connections should be converted for us with direct current. “Once the Baltic states have joined the Central European electricity system they will no longer be cut off on an energy island but strongly linked to the single European electricity market” he explained.  

The results of the research into the technical, economic and organisational aspects of joining the Central European frequency area will be released at the end of 2012, after which a final development plan can be made for the work needed in the electricity systems. The timing of full integration into the Central European frequency area under the development plan will be decided at the same time. Because of the complexity and length of the planning process for new electricity lines, with planning work, environmental impact assessments, negotiations with landowners and so forth, first estimates say that the necessary grid strengthening will be built in the next 10-15 years.  

Leaving the Russian unified energy system and joining the Central European frequency area will mean that in future the Baltic states will be part of same frequency area as the other European countries, and that frequency in our electricity system will start to be regulated by power plants in Europe and the Baltic states. At present the electricity frequency in the Baltic states is rigidly linked with the frequency in the Russian unified energy system, which covers the electricity systems of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, together with those of Russia and Belarus.