Baltics disconnect from Russian power grid, start isolated operation

Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia decoupled from the Soviet-era, Russian-controlled power grid on Saturday morning and began operating in so-called “isolated mode”.

“I’ve just had a call with the Latvian and Estonian ministers. The great news is that at 09:09, the Baltic states disconnected from the Russian and Belarusian systems,” Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas told reporters at the Litgrid System Control and Data Security Centre in Vilnius.

“We’re entering isolated operation mode. The Baltic power system is finally in our hands – we’re in control,” he added.

The three Baltic states will not return to the old system after the isolated operation test. On Sunday afternoon, they will begin operating synchronously with the Continental European grid, becoming fully energy-independent from Russia.

After synchronisation, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will join the world's largest synchronous power grid, which serves more than 400 million consumers across 26 countries.

Formally, the agreement on the joint Baltic electricity system with Russia and Belarus (BRELL) expired at 23:59 on Friday.

“For decades, we operated synchronously with the Russian system, relying on its frequency control and remaining vulnerable to potential disruptions. Now, we’re entering a new era – one where we'll build a bright, strong, secure, and energy-independent future,” the energy minister said.

After decoupling from the Russian power grid, the Baltic countries’ electricity needs are being met by local power plants and interconnections with Poland, Sweden, and Finland.

During the isolated operation test, the three Baltic power transmission system operators –Lithuania's Litgrid, Latvia’s AST, and Estonia's Elering – will independently manage system frequency to assess its resilience to various disruptions, test its readiness for isolated operation, and conduct frequency and voltage stability tests.

The three TSOs will manage the frequency of the system in a coordinated way from their respective centres. Throughout the weekend and beyond, Lithuania's frequency will be controlled from the Litgrid System Control and Data Security Centre in Vilnius.

According to Litgrid, most electricity during the isolated operation test will be generated from local sources, including solar and wind farms, hydropower plants, and combined heat and power plants. In Lithuania, Units 8 and 9 of the Lithuanian Power Plant in Elektrėnai, as well as the Panevėžys power plant and Orlen Lietuva's Mažeikiai power plant, are ready for operation.

Although Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia stopped purchasing electricity from Russia and Belarus several years ago, they were still operating within the Russian IPS/UPS system, where the frequency was centrally regulated from Moscow.

Of the 11 power lines that connected Lithuania to Belarus in recent years, only one was operational before the disconnection, and three of the six lines with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave were in use. Their dismantling is set to begin in February.

The Baltic TSOs submitted their application to connect to the Continental European grid to the then International Union for the Coordination of Transmission of Electricity (UCTE) back in 2007.