This decade is crucial for Lithuania’s energy future with several enormous projects being implemented simultaneously, among them the international power links with neighboring systems, CEO of Litgrid said.
CEO Daivis Virbickas of Litgrid - the system operator - said in an interview with The Anadolu Agency, the new interconnectors between Lithuania and Poland and Lithuania and Sweden will increase transmission capacity substantially which will contribute to competitiveness in the long term.
'The main strategic priorities of the Lithuanian electricity system are to become a part of the European power market and to start synchronous operations in the Continental European electricity system. The ultimate goal is to have a transparent and competitive electricity market with free competition among market players which would bring benefits for every electricity consumer,' he said.
LitPol, the Lithuania-Poland interconnection, is a planned electricity link between the Baltic transmission system and the synchronous grid of Continental Europe. Nordbalt is another project between Sweden and Lithuania which is scheduled to be operational in 2015. The lines' length will be about 1,005 miles (1,620 kilometers) in total.
The power systems of the Baltic States are still synced into a single system with Russia but the planned LitPol and Nordbalt projects will change this.
According to Virbickas, when the Nordbalt link is put into operation, Lithuania will be able to import up to 700 megawatts of electricity from Sweden.
'The diversification of import sources, elimination of dependence from the East as well as the strengthening of power supplies in the Baltic States are the main benefits of both projects. It is likely the electricity price in Lithuania’s market will decrease. The average price in southern Sweden was lower by one third than the prices in Lithuania and Latvia during the January-October 2014 period,' Virbickas noted.
According to Virbickas, both links are indispensable for the full integration of Lithuania in the EU’s common electricity system and market.
'The Nordbalt and the Litpol link are the first links with Western Europe and Scandinavia, therefore these projects of strategic importance are synonyms for energy independence in the eyes of society.' he said.
By Murat Temizer
Anadolu Agency