European Union Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jørgensen and the energy ministers of the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP) High-Level Group have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) to intensify efforts to create a more unified energy market.
“The parties pledged to work closely together in investing in and completing infrastructure projects and interconnections in the region”, the European Union said in an online statement. “They also committed to strengthening the internal energy market, promote energy efficiency while exploiting the growing potential of renewable energy”.
Formed October 2008, BEMIP seeks to integrate the power and natural gas markets of countries surrounding the Baltic Sea with the EU. The High-Level Group consists of the European Commission and eight EU countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden. Norway participates in the group as an observer.
“Further efforts are ongoing in the region to ensure energy security and the security of energy infrastructure, complete the remaining projects linked to the synchronization of the 3 Baltic States with European networks, increase transmission capacity in the remote Nordic area, develop a regional decarbonized gas market, work towards the decarbonization of the gas systems in the region and make the most of the region’s energy efficiency and renewable energy potential, both onshore and offshore”, the Commission added.
In February, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania completely decoupled their electricity transmission systems from Russia and achieved synchronization with the continental European network via Poland.
“As of today, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are fully independent from Russia’s and Belarus’s electricity systems”, the Commission, which has funded the synchronization project, confirmed February 9.
Before desynchronization from Russia, the three countries’ power supply lines have already been connected to Finland via Estlink 1 and Estlink 2, Poland via LitPol Link and Sweden via NordBalt. However, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – formerly part of the Soviet Union – continued to operate their grids synchronously with Russia.
The desynchronization pulled the three countries’ transmission operators out of the BRELL agreement of February 2001, which linked them, as well as Belarus, to a grid in which the electricity frequency is controlled by Russia.
A BEMIP working group is working on finalizing “all necessary infrastructure, projects and market reforms going beyond February 2025 as the date of synchronous operation”, says the new BEMIP MOU, signed on the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU energy ministers in Warsaw.
Further, the Baltic states and their neighbors “recognize the need to facilitate investments in future-proof energy infrastructure and interconnections for all relevant energy carriers, including electricity, hydrogen, biomethane, energy storage, and jointly develop and advance their markets”, the MOU states.
The MOU identified as priority areas electricity markets and infrastructure, natural gas infrastructure, biogas and lower-carbon gas networks, renewables, security of energy assets, nuclear energy and financing cooperation.
“Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland will continue their work on regional gas market integration process started in 2015”, the MOU says. “The objective is to establish a competitive regional gas market in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland, encompassing all four Member States, to improve market liquidity, integration and competitiveness ensuring affordable gas prices and high-quality service, thus being attractive for existing and new market participants.
“Other interested Sides may decide to join the work and explore possibilities for further gas market integration”.
The MOU supports already-in-place EU policies including REPowerEU, the 27-member states’ strategy to achieve independence from Russian energy, and the Trans-European Networks for Energy Regulation.
To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com
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