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EU secured €720 mln for energy infrastructure projects in Poland and the Baltic States

2 October 2020, 12:39

EU secured €720 mln for energy infrastructure projects in Poland and the Baltic States
On Thursday, October 1st 2020, the coordinating committee of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) of the EU Infrastructure Network decided to allocate €719.7 million for the investments in power transmission infrastructure in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. The decision follows joint application made earlier this year by transmission system operators from Poland and the three Baltic States.

€493 million has been allocated for the construction of the Lithuanian-Polish interconnector Harmony Link and support for the installation of synchronous compensators in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia - €166.5 million. The remaining part is awarded for the modernization and enforcing of the local grids required for the integration of the Harmony Link interconnection.

Harmony Link will be the second interconnection between Poland and Lithuania. Since 2016 PSE and Litgrid manage the LitPol Link overhead transmission line, which connects power substations in Elk (Poland) and Alytus (Lithuania). The new subsea HVDC cable will support the energy security in the region, enabling the synchronization process of the electricity systems of the Baltic System with the system of the Continental Europe.

At the end of May this year, the application submitted to the CEF by the transmission system operators of the Baltic States and Poland also included more projects for which urgent funding is not currently required. The total amount of projects was €1.22 billion, and the requested amount of support was €915 million. The countries are expected to apply for the support for the remaining projects to CEF next year.

The synchronization project is important for the creation of a common European electricity market, ensuring secure electricity transmission. It will also have the effect of closer economic cooperation.