The preparations lasted several dozen years. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Saturday (February 8) They give up the so -called BRLL systemconnecting them with Russia and Belarus since the end of World War II and managed almost entirely from Moscow. These countries have been using energy infrastructure from the time of the Soviet Union for years. Now they will join the common continental European network system.
No more Russia. Suddenly Poland gained importance
– This is primarily influenced by the energy security of these countries, because until now they have been dependent on the post -Soviet system. Although the “cutting off” of the Baltic States was not so easy, because with synchronous connections (such as this) you would have to stop them at many connections, otherwise the energy would continue to flow. In the event that Russia would like to use it, she could not talk about a mistake, it would only have to be act of open aggression towards the Baltic States. Russia has not done this so far, but the Baltic States, bearing in mind that this could happen, they were preparing to join the continental Europe system – Bartłomiej Derski from the portal WysokieNapiecie.pl tells us.
The main connection of the Baltic States with the EU network will now be implemented through the Litpol Link energy bridge, which connects Poland and Lithuania. – Maintaining this energy connection is in our responsibility and this is a lot of responsibility. Poland will be a key element in ensuring the energy security of the Baltic States. This combination is very important, because without it the costs of maintaining power systems in the Baltic States would be much higher – Derski tells us. – The construction of a second synchronous connection between our countries, which will strengthen this security, also includes us and Lithuanian to Lithuanians. It is a combination of Harmony Link, which is to be launched until the end of the decade. Originally, it was considered as a submarine, but, among others, due to the destruction of cables and gas pipelines in the Baltic in recent years, it was decided to build a land line – he adds.
Russia will take revenge? “The state of readiness of the Baltic States”
Therefore, it will now be key to protecting this infrastructure against sabotage. Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, the Minister of Energy of Lithuania, said directly that “the task of Lithuania is to prepare so that it does not affect the energy system.” – However, you can't miss factThat One of the ideas of Russia is to expose the synchronization project – he added. Also, the Estonian climate minister, Yoko Alender, said that you never know with Russia. – This is one of the thoughts and scenarios that it can happen. They can cut us off – he said. One ESTLINK 2 cable was damaged in December last year, which drastically reduced the bandwidth between Estonia and Finland. A similar incident would be very deplorable. That is why the services in all interested countries are in a state of readiness. – We can already see today that the movements of Russian forces are increasing in the area of a specific infrastructure, but we are ready with the Ministry of National Defense – Deputy Minister Miłosz Motyk said at the end of January. The authorities in Vilnius a few weeks ago strengthened the protection of the necessary objects that are part of the Lithuanian critical infrastructure.
Damage to the ESTLINK 2 cable drastically reduced the bandwidth between Estonia and Finland and affected energy prices. The ongoing synchronization (to a lesser extent) may also affect them. – The need to reserve transmission capabilities at the connection of Poland-Little from an energy perspective has two meaning. For many hours of the year, the Baltic States exported electricity to Poland, which somewhat increased prices on the local market. Now, when they have less export capabilities, more energy from Nordic states will stay in the region, which may slightly reduce energy prices in the Baltic countries – explains the journalist of the portal Wysokienapiecie.pl. He adds, however, that this may translate into energy prices in our country. For safety reasons, it will no longer be possible to use all 500 megawatts for trading in this connection, and only 150. Prices may increase slightly. However, the final impact on energy prices will be minimal, because the lack of these 350 megawatts is more or less as one large coal block – he explains. Prices in the Czech Republic will also increase slightly, Serve and Germany.
The Estonian transmission system operator, Eleking, even assured local consumers that the passage would take place “so smoothly that they would not even notice the change”. In the Baltic States there is an information campaign that fights with Russian fake news that alert that the change of network is synonymous with a significant price increase. Countries are also afraid of cyber attacks on IT systems when the separation occurs. – thanks to strong national and international cooperation Estonia is well prepared for the worst scenariosalthough this does not mean that such threats materialize – emphasizes Gert Auväärt, head of the Estonian Cybersecurity Center.
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are gaining new allies. Russia stays with Belarus. Kaliningrad suffers
– It is dangerous not so much to disconnect from Russia, because we have been preparing for it for years, but further remaining connected to the Russian power system – Kalle assured a dozen or so, boss of Elek. In fact, the Baltic States gain this move with many “energy allies”, which they will be able to count in a crisis. – I remember the situation from Poland when almost the entire Bełchatów power plant was disconnected from the system due to a fire at the power station. Then we were supported by the powers from the power plant in Portugal, Spain or Italy. All of Europe cooperates in such situations, because energy flows to a country that has a failure to supplement the missing power. This is crucial for the stability of energy systems. For the Baltic States it is Huge support that they have received from Russia so far, but now they will have to count on Europe continental – says Bartłomiej Derski.
One loser is Russia, which loses the possibility of using politically energy addiction, but the very detachment of the Baltic States from the BRLL system should not feel too much. Only the Russian exclava Kaliningrad, which was part of BRLL, will now have to act as Independent energy island. However, the disconnection of the Baltic States has been talked for so long that Russia is prepared for it. The bigger problem is that next week will lose their significance next week. Once a powerful electrical electrical network, whose name comes from the initials of the Baltic States, Russia and Belarus, will at most remind you of leaving Russia and Belarus alone.