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The Baltic states recently agreed to boycott Belarusian electricity when the Astrava nuclear power plant is launched in the country.
To ensure this, trade with Belarus via Lithuania will be suspended, and with Russia the Baltic countries will only trade via Latvia.
The Baltic states promise to require that Russia, when selling electricity, provide data showing that it is not energy traveling from Belarus through their country.
I don’t know anyone who fully trusts Russia.
However, the head of Litgrid admits that Russia cannot be completely trusted.
“I do not know anyone who fully trusts Russia, it is necessary to find a solution that allows us to take full advantage of the guarantee of origin system,” D. Virbickas told reporters near Elektrėnai on Tuesday.
He urged not to be under the illusion that Russia can be trusted one hundred percent on these issues: “But to get to such a level that electricity traders don’t want to cheat, I think it’s possible.”
Both D.Virbickas and the Minister of Energy mention that the Baltic countries are considering establishing a procedure that would allow them to revoke the licenses of Russian traders if it turns out that they are selling Belarusian electricity.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Astravo Nuclear Power Plant
“The system of guarantees of origin is not simple, but in principle it is based on the principle of deterrence: if it is found that Belarusian electricity is being traded, the licenses are lost,” said Ž.Vaičiūnas
That provision is already foreseen in Lithuanian law, and the aim now is to establish similar sanctions in both Latvia and Estonia.
According to officials, it is not yet clear what exactly such a system of guarantees of origin will look like, especially since it is not being negotiated with Moscow.
According to Ž.Vaičiūnas, the Baltic countries themselves have not yet agreed on specific mechanisms, and promise to go into the conversation with the Russians when they are “strong as a fist”.
“As much as Russia wants to commercialize its electricity in the Baltic countries, there will be motivations to prevent Belarusian electricity from entering them,” the energy minister said.
The agreement of the Baltic States to boycott Belarusian electricity came with the decision of Latvia. For many years, Lithuania has tried to convince its neighbors that this is necessary to make it difficult for the unsafe Astravas power station to operate. Belarus rejects Vilnius’ accusations about security loopholes at power plants.
Photo by Rokas Lukoševičius / 15min / Žygimantas Vaičiūnas
The so-called energy start-up of the Astrava nuclear power plant is scheduled for November 7; that day, the power plant would start generating electricity.
Timing is driving the way
Disconnecting the Soviet BRELL electric ring will prevent any theoretical possibility of Lithuania and other Baltic countries avoiding Belarusian electricity. It is planned for 2025 after connection to the Western European electricity grid.
On Tuesday, the energy sector announced the substantially completed third of the 14 projects required for synchronization in Lithuania: Litgrid is completing the 330 kV Lietuvos Elektrinė – Vilnius line reconstruction project half a year ahead of schedule.
After this project, the capital will be connected with Elektrėnai by two, not one, as before, the links of this line.
At the end of the works, four of the 125 supports had to be built, as well as 7 kilometers of cables. These works are scheduled to be completed in October and the entire project in December. The Vilnius reconstruction project started in the summer of 2016 and construction works started in early 2019. A total of 19.2 million was invested. euros.
This line, together with two other lines (currently the planned Vilnius-Neris line and the existing Lithuanian power station-Neris), will form a ring around Vilnius, which is necessary to safely and reliably disconnect from the Russian and Belarusian networks.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Daivis Virbickas
“This is a case where we have to assess the progress of the synchronization project not in the offices, not in the meeting rooms, but in reality,” said the energy minister near Elektrėnai, who then saw the contractors finish the last supports needed to rebuild the line.
D.Virbickas, director of Litgrid, said that the three power lines surrounding Vilnius are necessary both to meet the capital’s growing electricity needs and to ensure the reliability of the power system after synchronization.
“We’ve never been this close to syncing,” he said.
The Baltic States will be connected to the Western European electricity grids via an already submarine cable with Sweden and two cables with Poland, one of which is terrestrial and the other submarine.
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