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Friday, 29.03.2024, 12:35
Lithunian EnMin: energy security can't be risked by delaying synchronization project
Press photo. |
"We understand that we can't wait, because 2025 is the extreme
deadline for us to be ready to implement this project," Vaiciunas said on
the Ziniu Radijas radio station.
"It wouldn't be good if we waited and the Russian side prepared its
system for our disconnection, which would make us susceptible to all kinds of
energy blackmail. We can see technical steps (being made) in Russia and,
therefore, we must be ready to operate in isolation," he said.
According to the minister, Estonia wants the synchronization project to be
carried out via interconnections with the Nordic countries, but this would take
more money and time than synchronizing through Poland.
"We are aware of the position of Estonia, which thinks that
synchronization with the Nordic countries would be more favorable to Estonia,
but that means that we would not achieve synchronization before 2030. This
means that we risk our energy security. We are speaking not only about the
price, but also about the possibility of the entire system going out. We can't
take such risks," he said.
Vilnius maintains that the existing LitPol Link interconnector between
Lithuania and Poland is sufficient for synchronization, a position supported by
Warsaw but firmly opposed by Tallinn. Estonia had initially taken the position
that the Baltic power grids had to be synchronized with Scandinavia via see
cables across the Gulf of Finland, but it started to raise the issue of the
number of lines after the European Commission said that synchronization via
Poland would be the optimal option.
It is feared, however, that with Lithuania and Poland failing to agree on a
second LitPol Link line, the completion of the synchronization project will be
pushed back to 2030 or even later, from the currently planned 2025.
Lithuania's power transmission system operator Litgrid has proposed as a
way out to build a second line after the Baltic grids have been synchronized
with the Western European network and disconnected from the BRELL ring that
also includes Russia and Belarus.