The so-called Brell power grid – which stands for Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania – is controlled almost entirely by Moscow and has long been seen as a vulnerability for the former Soviet republics, which are now Nato members.
Though none of them have purchased electricity from Russia since 2022, their connection to the Brell grid left them dependent on Moscow for energy flow.
After disconnecting on Saturday morning, the three countries will carry out frequency tests before integrating into the European grid via Poland on Sunday.
“We are now removing Russia’s ability to use the electricity system as a tool of geopolitical blackmail,” Lithuania’s Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told AFP news agency.
“It’s the culmination of efforts over more than 10 years or 20 years, to reduce that energy dependence,” Prof David Smith of the Baltic Research Unit at the University of Glasgow told the BBC.
“When the Baltic States joined the EU and Nato, everybody talked about them being an energy island that was still dependent on that joint electricity network with Belarus and Russia,” said Smith. “That’s been completely broken now.”
