On the morning of February 8, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia were finally disconnected from the energy system of the aggressor country, Russia. What is important to understand is that the Baltic Energy System Agreement with Russia and Belarus (BRELL) formally ended at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 7.
Points of attention
- Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have switched to energy island operation with subsequent connection to the European energy system.
- This is an important and symbolic event, as the Baltic countries have not purchased electricity from Russia since 2022.
Russia's influence in the energy arena continues to weaken
A statement on this issue has already been made by Rokas Masiulis, the head of Litgrid, the operator of the Lithuanian electricity transmission system.
The latter officially confirmed that in addition to his country, Latvia and Estonia also disconnected from the Russian system. According to him, everything went according to plan.
"We signed a protocol with the Russians on how everything should be turned off. I would even say that a few minutes before that, the Russians themselves contacted us and said they were ready," Masiulis said.
The head of the Litgrid company said that first they disconnected one line, and then after 10-15 minutes another, and after the same period of time a third line was disconnected.
Another half hour passed, and Lithuania also disconnected the Belarusian line.
De facto, all Baltic countries were disconnected from the system until approximately 09:00.
YASNO head Serhiy Kovalenko has already reacted to this. According to the latter, this is a very symbolic event, given the fact that the Baltic countries have not purchased electricity from a terrorist country since 2022.
Currently, the power systems of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia operate in an energy island mode, isolated from the European power system, and will later be connected to the general grid. Congratulations, friends!
