Reduced import of Russian electricity will start to take place via the Russian-Latvian border

Import of electricity generated in the main landmass of the Russian Federation and transmitted to the Baltics will shift from the Belarus-Lithuania border to the Russia-Latvia border, since Lithuania has closed the Belarusian border for electricity trading in connection with the launch of the new Belarusian nuclear power plant.

Trading on the Latvian-Russian border starts at the stroke of midnight on 5 November. The transmission capacity provided for the Russian-Latvian border is approximately half of the transmission capacity previously allocated to the Belarusian-Lithuanian border for import of electricity from third countries.

Commercial flows of electricity will be handled across the Russia-Latvia border until the Baltic states’ electricity systems are synchronized with continental European electricity system’s frequency area by the end of 2025. For Estonia, besides ending electricity trading with Russia, it is also important to establish a network fee on electricity from third countries in spring 2021 to prevent unequal competition, emphasized Elering’s management board chairman Taavi Veskimägi.

The agreement for opening the Russia-Latvia border for import of Russian electricity was concluded by the three Baltic TSOs in September. In October, Estonian and Latvian regulators approved the methodology for calculating transmission capacities. After the synchronization of the Baltic electricity systems with the continental European frequency area and ending trading completely with Russia, the physical flow of electricity from Russia will also end. To this point certificates are used to substantiate that electricity that reaches the Baltics via the Latvian border is not from Belarus.