Baltic states plan 2025 power shift away from Russia
19 July 2024 18:03
Energy ministers of the three Baltic countries—Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia—Dainius Kreivys, Kaspars Melnis, and Kristen Michal, have announced that their countries are fully prepared to synchronize with the continental European power network. This means disconnecting from the BRELL system that connects them with Russia and Belarus.
The ministers also announced that they will formally inform the parties of their decision not to extend the agreement and to disconnect from BRELL as of February 2025. According to information from the BNS agency, the appropriate letter to Russia and Belarus will be sent later that day.
"We are leaving BRELL"
Dainius Kreivys, the Lithuanian Minister of Energy, shared this information on his Facebook profile, writing: "We are leaving BRELL". He also added that the network operators of the Baltic states (Lithuanian Litgrid, Latvian Latvijos AST, and Estonian Elering) have signed a document informing the parties to the BRELL agreement of their decision not to extend the agreement.
Kreivys emphasized that Tuesday's decision is the result of "many years of work, political decisions, long negotiations, calculations, and persuasion, intimidation, and blackmail, the implementation of projects that are not always easy, and of course, always a strong awareness that just as we became part of the EU and NATO, we will become part of the European power system."
Formally, the Baltic countries have until August 7 to notify Russia and Belarus of the non-extension of the BRELL agreement, six months before the planned synchronization with continental Europe.
In August last year, the Prime Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia signed a declaration to synchronize the Baltic power networks with Western Europe by February 2025. In December, this was recorded in a statement by the European Commission (EC) and the Baltic and Polish ministers responsible for energy.
Initially, it was assumed that synchronization with continental Europe would occur at the end of 2025. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine accelerated this process.
