Baltic States Pledge to Pool Energy Reserves and Share Emergency Equipment

The energy ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia met in Riga on Wednesday and signed a declaration committing to enhance joint reserve capacities for their power systems and explore sharing emergency grid equipment in case of major disruptions. Under the agreement, the Baltic transmission system operators will assess their needs for transformers, transmission towers, generators, and other emergency equipment required during threats, accidents, or system failures. They will then prepare a joint application for European Union funding to purchase and maintain the equipment.

Lithuanian Energy Minister Lukas Savickas said the joint reserves and coordination agreement will help ensure a more reliable energy supply for the public, while joint decisions allow for more efficient and cost-effective strengthening of energy infrastructure security. The ministers also discussed the protection of strategic energy facilities. Lithuania’s Energy Ministry reported that the ministers acknowledged drones have become "a new security reality" and that protection against them is now "an integral part of critical infrastructure protection at the regional level."

The agreement comes amid heightened concern over potential threats to critical infrastructure across the Baltic region. Leaders of NATO’s eastern flank countries have recently warned of possible Russian provocations, while Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has said that the country’s critical transport and energy infrastructure could become targets of both conventional and nonconventional attacks. Since June, the Lithuanian military has been helping protect several key energy facilities, including the liquefied natural gas terminal in Klaipėda, the LitPol Link electricity interconnection switchyard in Alytus, a transformer substation, and the Kruonis pumped-storage hydroelectric plant.