The Baltic power transmission system operators on Tuesday notified Russia and Belarus of the non-extension of the so-called BRELL contract and their withdrawal from the Moscow-controlled post-Soviet electricity system as of February 2025.
Lithuania’s Litgrid, Latvia’s AST, and Estonia’s Elering “have notified Russian and Belarusian operators on the non-extension of the BRELL agreement, which is bound to expire in February 2025”, the Lithuanian TSO said in a press release.
“At that time, the three Baltic states will decouple from the Russian and Belarusian grids to join the Continental Europe Synchronous Area,” it said, adding that the synchronisation is planned for February 9.
The day before, on February 8, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will disconnect from the Russian IPS/UPS system and will perform a single isolated operation test, after which they will not return to the old system.
“This is a very important milestone for synchronisation, which is the most ambitious energy independence project in the Baltics,” Litgrid CEO Rokas Masiulis said in the press release. “This is the moment when we can point to a specific date, on which we will cut the final ties with Russia in the energy sector.”
“We already have no commercial relations, and in six months, we will disconnect and dismantle the last physical connections with Russian and Belarusian grids,” he added.
The notice was signed in Riga on Tuesday by Masiulis, AST CEO Rolands Irklis, and Elering CEO Kalle Kilk.
According to Litgrid, all three Baltic electricity systems “are already prepared for emergency synchronisation at any moment” and many of the necessary projects have been completed.
The synchronisation will take place via the LitPol Link synchronous link between Lithuania and Poland, which was expanded in 2021 to support such an operation.
Until now, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, together with Russia and Belarus, have operated within the IPS/UPS system, where the electrical frequency is centrally controlled by Russia.
The Baltic countries had until August 7 to notify Russia and Belarus of the non-renewal of the BRELL contract, six months before the planned synchronisation with the Continental Europe Synchronous Area.
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