Energy, EU – Baltic States, Lithuania

As part of testing, electricity would first be transmitted at maximum capacity from Lithuania to Sweden and later, from Sweden to Lithuania, the Lithuanian power transmission system operator said in a filing to the Nord Pool electricity exchange on Sunday.

According to the data made available by Litgrid, the 686 MW capacity of transmission from Lithuania to Sweden was reached at noon on Monday. On Tuesday, the interconnection will be tested at 150-MW capacity.

For the hours with transmission from Sweden to Lithuania energy would be traded on Nord Pool, and for the hours with transmission from Lithuania to Sweden, energy on the Lithuanian side would be traded on Nord Pool and energy on the Swedish side would be traded on the regulated power market, the filing said.

Last December, a minor fire that broke out near the converter station in Nybro, on the Swedish side, led to the suspension of NordBalt testing, which, however, was resumed early in January. The interconnection is expected to start operating in a regular mode in spring.

The 550-million-euro, 453-kilometer-long NordBalt is Lithuania's first electricity link to Sweden. The link will operate at a capacity of up to 700 MW, which is sufficient to meet the needs of about a half of Lithuanian consumers on a moderate winter day.