With Russia and Belarus not complying with the provisions of the so-called BRELL contract, it has been “dead” for some time, Rokas Masiulis, CEO of Litgrid, the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator, has said.
On Tuesday, the Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian TSOs officially notified Russia and Belarus of the non-extension of the BRELL contract and their withdrawal from the Moscow-controlled post-Soviet electricity system in February 2025.
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“As far as the implementation of the BRELL contract is concerned, they [Russia and Belarus] have not been implementing it for a long time because they have not been providing data. They stopped providing the data they were obliged to provide under the contract about a year and a half ago. That contract was dead before it was even cancelled,” Masiulis told the LRT RADIO on Thursday.
According to him, Lithuania used to have four power lines with Russia’s Kaliningrad Region and 11 with Belarus. Currently, there is only one line with the latter country in operation, and some of the lines have been dismantled.
Arvydas Sekmokas, an energy expert and former energy minister, stressed that the most important thing now is to disconnect and dismantle the lines connecting the countries.
“After the withdrawal from BRELL, there is one more important step to be taken – the disconnection of the electricity transmission lines with Russia and Belarus. And this is not just a technical step but also a political or geopolitical one,” he said.
Sekmokas did not rule out that Russia might take provocative measures in the run-up to the Baltics’ synchronisation with the European energy system.
“With the provocations that have taken place so far and the war in Ukraine, we cannot rule out the possibility of such events,” the former energy minister said.
According to the existing plans, the Baltic countries’ systems will begin operating synchronously with continental European grids on February 9, 2025.
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.
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