Vilnius, Feb 10 (IANS): Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia synchronised their power grids with Western Europe on Sunday noon, media reported.

The three Baltic countries disconnected from the BRELL energy network, which comprises Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, on Saturday morning and operated in isolated mode until Sunday noon.

They are now linked to the synchronous grid of Continental Europe (UCTE) via the Lithuanian-Polish electricity connection, LitPol Link.

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are fully independent of Russia's and Belarus's electricity systems. They successfully integrated into the EU internal energy market by joining the European continental network via Poland.

This allows the Baltic States to operate their own energy systems under common and transparent European rules.

The synchronisation of the Baltics not only contributes to the security of supply of the entire Union, but it will also support the integration of renewable energy in the system, ultimately allowing consumers to benefit from lower energy costs.

In synchronisation with Western Europe, the three countries will manage the frequency of their power grids independently while coordinating with other nations within UCTE. They will also be responsible for balancing their grids.

A total of more than 1.6 billion euros ($1.65 billion) has been invested in the synchronisation project across the Baltic States and Poland, with nearly 1.2 billion euros allocated from the European Union's Energy Infrastructure Connections Facility, according to Lithuania's Energy Ministry.

The Baltic countries initiated the project to connect to UCTE in 2009, initially planning to complete it by early 2026.

However, following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and the European Commission agreed to expedite the connection to February 2025. (1 euro = $1.03)