The Baltic states are disconnecting from Russia: synchronization with Europe to be completed this year

The European Commission has appointed Catharina Sikow-Magny coordinator of the project to synchronize the Baltic states’ electricity systems with the European grid. The project, which is due to be completed this year, will eliminate the security threat to the Baltic states posed by their connection to the Russian and Belarusian grids. It will also bring a significant amount of dispatchable renewable energy capacity into the European system.

The European Commission appointed a new coordinator for the project to synchronize the Baltic states’ electricity systems with the European system: Catharina Sikow-Magny. The Baltic states’ systems are currently interconnected and synchronized with the Russian and Belarusian grids.

This connection poses a security threat to these countries and at the same time limits their ability to benefit from links with the electricity system of a geopolitically more stable Europe. The long-planned synchronization of the grids is expected to be completed in February this year.

Benefits for Europe: Dispatchable green energy

Connecting the Baltic states’ electricity systems to the European system will bring new dispatchable renewable energy sources into it. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia generate a significant share of their electricity from renewable sources: 64% in Lithuania, 68% in Latvia and 40% in Estonia. The renewable sources in these countries are dominated primarily by biomass and biogas.

These dispatchable renewable sources can provide a valuable addition to dispatchable electricity sources, helping to balance the fluctuating output of solar and wind power plants in the European electricity system.