Baltic states disconnect from Russian power grid, join EU system

As the Baltic countries completed their transition from Russia’s power grid to the EU system on Sunday, severing decades of Soviet-era disconnection, the LitPol link between Lithuania and Poland also became operational.

At 13:05 local time, Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator, Litgrid, announced that the Baltic countries had successfully synchronized their power grids via LitPol Link, as confirmed by the Polish electricity operator (PSE).

PSE President Grzegorz Onichimowski said, “Preparations for the synchronization have been underway for several years, and PSE has been involved from the very beginning. This is a historic event, but our cooperation does not end here.”

Preparations are already underway for the construction of a new Polish-Lithuanian interconnector called Harmony Link, which Onichimowski said would “further strengthen security in the region.”

In December 2024, the PSE had approved investment in the construction of the Harmony Link electricity link. The total cost of the project is approximately €923 million.

On the Lithuanian side, the maximum budget for the project will be €220 million, of which €147.2 million will be financed by the EU. In Poland, the investment is expected to reach around €703 million, of which €368 million will come from the EU budget.

In September, Litgrid’s shareholders decided that Harmony Link would be built on land instead of subsea. This way, incidents such as damage to the cables in the Baltic Sea, as has been seen in recent months, can be avoided.

The Lithuanian part of the link will include both an aerial line and an underground cable. It is also planned to use the Rail Baltica and Via Baltica infrastructure between Poland and Lithuania.

Polish President Andrzej Duda attended the ceremony in Vilnius on Sunday, celebrating the connection of the Baltic countries to the European electricity grid.

“What we are witnessing today is a monumental achievement of almost 18 years of tireless efforts,” Duda said, adding that the Baltic countries’ move was “a final liberation from the Soviet dependence, this time in the energy sphere.”

“For any nation in Central Europe, especially after the renewal of Russian neo-imperialism, it is a moral imperative and a necessity to cut all ties with Russia,” the Polish President argued.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs posted on X a photo of himself standing next to other Baltic leaders, Duda, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.