VILNIUS: The Baltic states on Tuesday said they had notified Russia and its ally Belarus of their decision to decouple from the Soviet-era power grid in February 2025.
The move marked a major step in achieving energy independence from Moscow for staunch Ukraine supporters Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which were once ruled by the Soviet Union but are now in the EU and NATO.
All three nations have had tense relations with Moscow following independence, and ties have further deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“We will cut the last energy ties with Russia,” Rokas Masiulis, head of Lithuania’s state-run grid operator Litgrid, said in a statement.
“In half a year, we will not only disconnect from the Russian and Belarusian electricity grid, but also dismantle the last remaining power lines,” he added.
Officials from Latvian operator AST and Estonia’s Elering also announced the decision.
The Baltic states will disconnect from the Russian grid on February 7 and will join the European grid two days later, after decades of efforts to disengage.
Though they declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, their power grids have remained connected with Russia and Belarus.
Their frequency is thus regulated from the Moscow headquarters, meaning they still depend on Russia to ensure a stable electricity flow.
The countries decided to synchronise their power grids with the Continental European system in 2018, having secured funding from the European Union.
They will access the EU power grid through Poland.
The Baltic states stopped buying Russian gas and electricity after Moscow invaded Ukraine.