Baltic States – CIS, Energy, EU – Baltic States, Legislation

The Lithuanian regulator has yet to approve the new methodology. 

Following Tuesday's launch of Belarus' Astravyets nuclear power plant, the current trilateral Baltic methodology on electricity trade with third countries, approved in 2018, remains in force, VERT said.

Under the 2018 methodology, the Baltic countries' capacity for electricity trade with Russia and Belarus, except for the Kaliningrad region, is zero megawatts, it said.

The regulator noted that Lithuania's Litgrid and the Latvian and Estonian transmission system operators had started applying the 2018 methodology following the Astravyets plant's launch, setting the capacity to zero.  

VERT has informed the Baltic TSOs, the European Commission and the Nord Pool power exchange that the new trilateral methodology will come into force only after it has been approved by the regulators of all three Baltic countries.

The Lithuanian regulator has launched a public consultation on the draft methodology, with November 5 set as the deadline for submitting comments and proposals. It is not clear yet when the regulator will discuss the draft.  

Elering, the Estonian TSO, said on Tuesday that electricity trade with Russia via the Latvia-Russia interconnection would begin on Thursday. The interconnection has half the capacity of that between Lithuania and Belarus.