Whilst formerly an "energy island", the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are now connected to the European electricity network through different electricity lines linking Poland and Lithuania, Lithuania and Sweden, and Estonia and Finland. That said, the Baltic States' electricity grid is, however, still operated in a synchronous mode with the Russian and Belarusian interconnection systems.

The desynchronisation of the Baltic States' electricity grid from these systems and their synchronisation with the Continental European Network is an essential political priority for the achievement of the Energy Union. This is particularly important given the current geopolitical situation. The relevant grid reinforcements have been included in all EU lists of Projects of Common Interest (PCIs) adopted by the Commission and are proposed for the inclusion in the 5th PCI list.

The Roadmap implementing the synchronisation of the Baltic States' electricity networks with the Continental European Network sets the target date of 2025 for the full synchronisation. In May 2019, the formal extension of the continental European grid to the Baltic States' was approved within the European Network of Transmission System Operators (ENTSO-E) in a process initiated by Polish and three Baltic States’ TSOs.

Taking into account the complexity of the Synchronisation project, it is divided in three phases:

• Phase I – internal transmission network reinforcements in the Baltic States.
• Phase II – investment items recommended by the studies performed by the involved TSO and ENTSO-E such as synchronous condensers for inertia, and investment items resulted from the political decision on the preferred synchronisation scenario, such as Harmony link (LT-PL; sea cable), and ENTSO-E catalogue of measures.
• Phase III – investment items identified at later stages of the process related with third countries (Kaliningrad (Russia) and Belorussia).

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On April, 1st, 2022, the European Commission signed grant agreements of €1.1 billion with seven large-scale projects via the EU Innovation Fund, funded by revenues from the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS). These projects aim to reduce emissions by over 76 Mt of CO2eq during the first ten years of operation. The seven projects are deploying innovative low-carbon technologies at industrial scale, covering key sectors such as hydrogen, steel, chemicals, cement, solar energy, biofuels, and carbon capture and storage.

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As you may know, the PANTERA consortium has been working in close collaboration with stakeholders and collecting feedback to enhance the EIRIE platform. Through interviews, the consortium has been able to gather valuable feedback from the members of the PANTERA Advisory Board.

We have been regularly sharing these important insights with you through short quotes, and would like to invite you to share your thoughts with us as well.

"Learning from best practices or experiences of member states is very useful, and can span theoretical research and demonstration projects."

Prof. Lisa Ryan
UCD Energy Institute

[Find relevant and interesting content in the Resources tab on the PANTERA website and on the EIRIE platform]

Did you allocate some time to visit the EIRIE platform and/or look for specific information or use a functionality for your needs? 
Let us know.

The key objective of the EIRIE platform is to connect and bring together the European Union’s Research & Innovation community in one place, to enable collaboration, increase wider interest and give access to all the resources needed to play an active role within the European research community. With PANTERA and especially the EIRIE platform, we will help bridge the gaps that currently exist in the energy field in Europe between Member States, by bringing in a single point of access, the attractiveness of successful partnerships and knowledge being national, regional or European.

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Date: 27 April 2022

Time: 09:00 – 17:00 EEST

Location: Hybrid format: participants will be able to join online as well as physically at the AC Hotel by Marriott, Dzirnavu iela 33 in Riga, Latvia.

See the agenda here. 

Baltic States are actively working towards the success of the energy transition objectives and implementation of declared policies for achieving the low carbon economy. Yet, together with other less involved countries they have low participation rates in research and innovation (R&I) activities and the realisation of the European Union’s Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan Implementation Plans. As a consequence, and unlike more successful Member States they have received only a marginal contribution of EU R&I Horizon 2020’s budget.

In this context, PANTERA and SUPEERA are joining forces with the objective to enhance collaboration in R&I activities in these countries, facilitate knowledge exchange and showcase best practices of how international networking and cooperation between national stakeholders and key international associations and organisations can be beneficial for establishing long-lasting interactions and fostering joint R&I activities.

Therefore, the workshop will offer a detailed overview of the European policies, strategies, EU funding programmes and collaboration opportunities at the disposal to the research community of the Baltic States and bringing them closer to the R&I activities of Europe and get active with the SET Plan process. Meanwhile, the invited experts and stakeholders will share their experience in the project implementation. All together we will discuss the possibility of developing a shared vision and strategy for cooperation between the Baltic States in the upcoming research and innovation activities and work to identify our strong points and nurture solutions for building a competitive advantage. 

Register here.

About the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) and SUPEERA project

The European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) is an association of European public research centres and universities active in low-carbon energy research. EERA pursues the mission of catalysing European energy research for a climate-neutral society by 2050. Bringing together more than 250 organisations from 30 countries, EERA is Europe’s largest energy research community. EERA coordinates its research activities through 18 Joint Programmes and is a key player in the SET Plan. For further information, see https://www.eera-set.eu/.  

Among different high-level objectives, the “SUPEERA” project aims at raising awareness about the SET Plan and the Clean Energy Transition among research organisations, funding bodies and National Contact Points (NCPs) from the EU-13 countries and it proposes to widen the activity of those countries towards the SET Plan by facilitating the mobilisation of the identified stakeholders. SUPEERA aims to realise these objectives through the implementation of the following actions: 

• The identification and mapping of national research organisations from targeted EU-13 countries with limited or inexistent participation in the SET Plan Implementation Plans, with great potential to be strategically involved in the future; 
• The engagement at EERA activities and the SET Plan of those stakeholders beyond EERA network through the organisation of workshops and events; 
• The facilitation of knowledge exchange activities and sharing best practices between EU-13 stakeholders and key EERA members with the ambition of establishing long-lasting interactions.

Learn more about international research collaboration opportunities fostering EU Clean Energy transition in Baltic States.