Nordic transmission networks have made preparations to support the network operators in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which are currently closely linked to Russian grids, in the event of an emergency.
Last week chief executives from Energinet, Fingrid, Statnett and Svenska kraftnät discussed preparations and routines “in the event of an escalating situation in the Baltic region” and consequences for the Baltic power system, according to European networks group Entsoe.
The two groups of operators have made preparations for a scenario in which the Baltic grids are disconnected from the Russian grid, Entsoe said, noting that “In such a scenario, frequency support from the Nordic system will be needed”. The Baltic states have already been restricting their electricity imports from Russia as a risk mitigation measure, saying that they do not want to have a large part of their supply from Belarus or Russia because it would leave them vulnerable to a cascading blackout if there was an “extraordinary desynchronisation from the electricity network of Russia and Belarus” – ie a supply cut off. System operators Elering, AST and Litgrid halved the transmission capacity for electricity imports from Russia to 300MW.
The transmission networks had already been practising and evaluating frequency support for the Baltic grids, as part of longstanding plans to synchronise the Baltics with the Central European synchronous electricity system, due in 2025. Similar plans for Ukraine meant that network operators were able to move quickly and have successfully synchronised its network with Europe’s.