Baltic States – CIS, Energy, EU – Baltic States, Good for Business, Lithuania

Photo: litgrid.eu

The authorities have approved conceptual plans for the development of a power transmission line from the Kruonis Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant to Bitenai, in the western part of the country, and the Musa switchyard, the power transmission system operator said.   

Specific project solutions are currently being worked out based on the conceptual plans, with territorial planning expected to be completed in 2021, and the line and the switchyard to be built in 2025.

The project for the 330 kV power transmission line involves upgrading the existing one-circuit Jurbarkas-Bitenai line into a two-circuit one and building a new section from the Jurbarkas-Bitenai line to the line between Kruonis and Sovetsk, a border town in Russia's Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.  

The Musa switchyard will be built in the northern district of Joniskis, at the junction of the lines between Jelgava (Latvia), Siauliai and Telsiai.

"Since synchronization includes disconnection from the post-Soviet IPS/UPS system, we need to adapt the grid to operating without using the existing cross-system lines with Kaliningrad and Belarus," said Gerda Krasauske, the director of Litgrid's Strategic Infrastructure Department. 

"The Kruonis HPP-Bitenai line, which runs along the country's western border, is necessary for that reason," she said. The Musa switchyard will also help ensure a more reliable electricity supply in Northern Lithuania, she added.

The two projects are among the state's 14 strategic projects necessary for the synchronization process.  

Litgrid has to date completed two of the projects, expanding the Bitenai sub-station and building a new 110 kV line from Pagegiai to Bitenai. 

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are still part of the post-Soviet BRELL ring where the electricity frequency is centrally controlled in Russia. 

The Baltic countries are planning to connect their power grids to the Continental European system in 2025.