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Although no more detailed comments were received from the Latvian counterpart D. Kreivys on the data provided by Lithuania, which corroborates the entry of Belarusian electricity into the Baltic States, the Minister is convinced that further actions will be coordinated after the ministers meet. live. That meeting, he said, is scheduled for soon.
“I drew the general situation, the Latvian minister said that he is not yet familiar with the data, which is being analyzed.” He promised to come back with answers. They take the data sent seriously, perhaps that is why they did not want to comment immediately, ”said D. Kreivys.
When asked by journalists whether the Latvians themselves might have known about this situation, the Energy Minister noted that the analysis carried out by the Lithuanian operator of the electricity transmission system Litgrid was more detailed.
“We have deliberately monitored these flows throughout the region and our experts’ analysis is more in-depth, so we share it with the Latvians,” he said.
Photo by Luke April / 15 minutes / Dainius Kreivys
The minister also emphasized that in the event that no agreement is reached on a new methodology preventing the entry of Belarusian electricity, Lithuania would take action, but the previously expressed possibility of withdrawing from NordPool is not being considered.
“Drastic decisions are extreme, they cannot lead to anything good. We will have our own measures, only they will not be as radical as the withdrawal of Nordpool, which is not under consideration. We have a working group that is considering various legal instruments. We will have The tools are ready for the worst case, but we are not designing the worst case, we believe that we will agree diplomatically. Although we had warned you, perhaps the redistribution of flows after the commissioning of the plant opened a new reality for the Latvians themselves, ”the minister said.
The issue of timing was also discussed at the meeting.
During the meeting, the Energy Minister emphasized to his Latvian counterpart that this was not a political issue, but a security issue for the countries, as they were financing the additional construction of the Astrava nuclear power plant using electricity produced in Belarus. .
“With the start of the export of electricity by the Belarusian nuclear power plant, the amount of energy marketed in the Baltic States from third countries has multiplied by 3.5, the use of bandwidth has multiplied by 4; this is the new reality. It contradicts our common goal: not to allow dangerous energy to enter our market, “Kreivys said at the meeting.
He emphasized that if such use was continued, only up to 7.1 TWh of electricity from third countries would be imported into Lithuania per year. “This represents almost three-quarters of Lithuania’s annual energy demand and would directly hamper the development of local generation and renewable energy,” he stressed.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Astravo Nuclear Power Plant
Mr Kreivys also highlighted that the threat posed by the Belarusian nuclear power plant to the EU and its Member States in terms of safety, health and the environment had been identified by the European Parliament in a resolution adopted yesterday.
The Lithuanian and Latvian ministers also discussed the synchronization of the Baltic power grids with those of continental Europe. The Ministers agreed that it is necessary to maintain the unity of Lithuania and Latvia both in the synchronization process and in the treatment of preventing the inflows of electricity from third countries. The ministers will discuss these issues in detail in a live meeting as soon as the circumstances of the pandemic allow.
Belarusian electricity flows into Lithuania, but it is unclear who benefits
On Wednesday, the electricity transmission system operator Litgrid released data on Wednesday showing that electricity produced in Belarus after the Astrava nuclear power plant is commissioned enters Lithuania and is consumed here. True, the institution does not have accurate evidence that Belarus would benefit financially from this. The issue of economic benefits is relevant in Lithuania, as Vilnius seeks to boycott the entry of Astrava electricity into the country’s market, without wanting Belarusians to benefit from this suspicious security project.
Litgrid’s suspicions stemmed from the fact that, after Belarusians started exporting electricity from the Astravas power station, the amount of electricity sold from third countries in the Baltic States increased by one and a quarter times.
Scanpix / AP Photo / Astravo Nuclear Power Plant
According to Giedrius Radvila, head of Litgrid’s systems management department, the company’s specialists discovered that when Astravas began operating, the electrical infrastructure in the Baltic countries was used much more intensively for the flow and eventually the periods in the that electricity produced in Belarus entered Lithuania. they were identified.
Currently, the Baltic countries trade electricity with third parties through the Latvian-Russian connection. Following the transaction on the Baltic NordPool energy exchange, Russia undertakes to place the agreed amount of electricity on the market in due time. However, the exporting country does not always have this possibility.
“However, there are situations quite frequently, especially when the Belarusian nuclear power plant is in operation and the Belarusian system has a surplus. Therefore, this generator does not ensure a commercial commitment in Russia,” confirmed G. Radvila on the wheel press release this Wednesday.
Žygimantas Gedvila / 15min photo / Control of the “Litgrid” system and opening of the data center
According to him, then it happens that the electricity from Belarus reaches Lithuania as a physical flow, which is eventually consumed.
“We have examples where a negligible amount of electricity flowed from Russia to the Baltic states, and the Belarusian system is in surplus at that time … and we see that the transaction, which was concluded by Russia the day before, is physically feasible and flows to Lithuania through the cross section of Lithuania and Belarus, ”said G. Radvila.
Impressive energy sales: one third to half flow
According to Litgrid, the Ministry of Energy announced last week that from January 1-18 this year alone, Belarusian electricity exports to Lithuania amounted to 33 million LTL. kWh. This is around 17.5 percent. of the total amount negotiated with Russia through Latvia.
After the resumption of the operation of the Astrava nuclear power plant on January 21, the export of Belarusian electricity to Lithuania increased even more: from January 21 to 31, it amounted to 71 million LTL. kWh or 50 percent. the total amount traded through the Nord Pool Spot in Latvia’s electricity trading zone with Russia, which actually came from Belarus.
Andrius Vaitkevičius / 15min photo / Electric cables
Commenting on these data after the meeting of the Seimas Defense and National Security Committee, the Minister of Energy D. Kreivys added that the profit from the transactions from January 21 to 31 for Belarus amounted to about 4 million. euros.
Representatives for Litgrid and the State Energy Regulatory Council said they had no direct evidence that Belarus was the ultimate financial beneficiary of such business schemes.
Current methodology has paved the way for Belarusian electricity trading
According to last year’s agreement of the Baltic energy ministers defining the electricity trade with third countries, the Baltic trade is carried out exclusively through the connections between Latvia and Russia, but the Lithuanian energy market regulator declined to approve this document.
The State Energy Regulatory Council (VERT) argued that the Baltic States’ trade with third countries exceeded the capacity of the Latvian-Russian connection, which opens up opportunities for electricity to flow through the Lithuanian-Belarusian connection for purposes commercial, which should be prohibited. under the “anti-astral” law of Lithuania.
Despite the fact that the Lithuanian VERT has not approved the new methodology, Latvia has been trading electricity through the connection between Latvia and Russia since the autumn.
All these circumstances led officials and some politicians to suspect that the agreement on the Baltic trade methodology with third countries opens the way for Belarus to indirectly trade electricity with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
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