Three Baltic states pull plug completely off of Russian power grid

Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on Feb. 9 officially synchronized their electricity grids with continental Europe as they pulled the plug off the power grids of neighboring Russia and Belarus.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda described the move as a historic milestone, signifying the end of the Baltic countries’ long journey toward energy independence, Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT reports.

“For 65 years, Lithuania’s electricity system was dependent on Russia – more than half a century. […] The era of political pressure and blackmail is finally over,” he said, expressing gratitude to everyone involved in the project, from technical staff to past and present national leaders.

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal called the event a “momentous day.” 

“Joining the Schengen Area opened Europe’s borders to us, and now we are connecting to the world’s largest frequency zone,” he said, regarding the 27 EU countries that abolished internal border controls. 

The three EU and NATO member states disconnected from Russia’s energy system and operated in isolation for two days over the past weekend. 

Previously, the power supply system shared by Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, and Belarus had been centrally managed from Moscow. 

The decision to disconnect the from Russia’s power grid, which had been planned since 2017, was delayed due to technical, financial, and political hurdles.

The Baltic nations are now linked to the European energy network through the Lithuania-Poland land transmission line. In addition, Lithuania has a sea connection to Sweden, and Estonia is connected to Finland. 

By 2030, another land connection between Lithuania and Poland is set to be built.