Baltic States officially disconnected from the Russian energy system

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia on Saturday, February 8, successfully disconnected their energy systems from the frequency zone controlled by Russia. The energy systems of the three Baltic states are now operating in an isolated mode, UNN writes with reference to ERR.

Details

The shutdown process began around 6 a.m. local time with the shutdown of power lines between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad.

Then the lines between Lithuania and Belarus and between Latvia and Russia were disconnected.

The latest stage was the disconnection of high-voltage lines between Estonia and Russia at the border in Narva, state-owned Elering said. 

According to Elering spokesman Ain Köster, Estonia disconnected from the Russian power grid at 9:09 a.m. local time.

"The lines between Lithuania and the Kaliningrad region went down at about 6:40, the lines between Lithuania and Belarus at 7:30, Latvia disconnected from Russia at 8:00, and our lines were down for about 9 hours. Now it seems that everything is in good order and there is nothing to worry about," he told ERR radio news.

The disconnection of the Baltic states from the Russian energy system has not affected consumers - the system continues to operate stably, Elering assured.

Synchronization with the continental European energy system is scheduled for the second half of Sunday, February 9. Before that, the operators of the power systems of Estonia (Elering), Latvia (AST) and Lithuania (Litgrid) will test the autonomous mode of operation. During this period, the energy system of the Baltic States will operate without connection to other frequency zones, and electricity consumption will be provided by local power plants, as well as the Estonia-Finland and Lithuania-Sweden connections.

Addendum

According to the assessment of the authorities of the three Baltic states, synchronization with the European power grid will provide Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with independent, stable and reliable frequency control in their power grids, as well as increase the energy security of the region. The Continental European Frequency Zone covers 26 countries and more than 400 million electricity consumers.

It also means the end of the so-called BRELL electric ring, which so far included Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 

The synchronization process of the Baltic States is carried out in cooperation with the European Union and the association of European transmission operators ENTSO-E.