The three Baltic states are looking to disconnect their power grids from Russia’s sooner than the previous goal of 2025 as part of a push to sever the last remaining energy link to Moscow.
(Bloomberg) — The three Baltic states are looking to disconnect their power grids from Russia’s sooner than the previous goal of 2025 as part of a push to sever the last remaining energy link to Moscow.
Leaving the Russian grid is the region’s “strategic priority,” and the countries will aim for a switch “as soon as possible,” said Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte alongside her Latvian and Estonian partners during a press conference in Tallinn.
Lithuania, which successfully carried out a test of cutting all connections to the Russian grid in April, is now calling on its Baltic neighbors to move up the 2025 goal and make the switch as soon as next year. To fully disconnect the lines, the synchronization with continental Europe has to take place jointly with Latvia and Estonia. The leaders said they’re waiting for a study results based on the Lithuanian test.
“We have direct experience, unfortunately, of how Russia weaponizes energy,” Simonyte said “We cannot ignore even the slightest possibility that Russia could exploit our dependence on its electricity networks at the most critical moments.”
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