For the first time in history, the Lithuanian authorities will be disconnected from the Russian electrical system, thus finally breaking off all energy ties with Moscow. This was reported by Bloomberg with reference to the Lithuanian network operator Litgrid. The test shutdown will take place on Saturday from 11:00 to 21:00 local time, during which Lithuania will switch to its own energy sources, as well as imports from Sweden and Poland.
The agency notes that the Baltic countries, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, have already refused to supply Russian fossil fuels, but the historical dependence on electricity supplies is the most difficult problem for these countries, which they have not yet been able to cope with. After the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Baltic countries stepped up measures to reduce dependence on Russia and, accordingly, reduce Moscow's income from electricity sales.
“For the first time in history, the Lithuanian electricity system will operate completely independently, so we take responsibility for test preparations and will be ready for all scenarios. Consumers will not notice the test,” promised Litgrid CEO Rokas Masiulis.
The loss of Russian supplies to the Baltic countries will be partially compensated by the European Commission, which will allocate about €1.1 billion of investments to the three countries just for this purpose. At the same time, Lithuania initially planned to abandon Russian electricity supplies only in 2025, however, according to Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivis, this could happen as early as next year.
Perhaps Lithuania could have abandoned Russian electricity even earlier, but the issue rests on its neighbors – Latvia and Estonia, whose energy systems are more dependent on Russian supplies – they are designed in such a way that it will not be possible to disconnect from Russian supplies painlessly yet, since there are no alternative capacities enough. The two countries need more time to reconfigure networks for alternative supplies.
Lithuania's refusal of Russian electricity will lead to another unpleasant situation for Russia – the Kaliningrad region will lose access to Russian electricity, which was transiting just through the territory of Lithuania, however, the local division of Inter RAO has already increased its own production capacity to avoid interruptions in electricity in the Russian exclave and be able to work smoothly even without Lithuania.