Capacities’ impact on price
What impact do the electricity capacities have on electricity price in Lithuania?
Currently Lithuania imports most of its electricity. The main flows of electricity into Lithuania are coming:
-via NordBalt DC interconnector with Sweden (SE4 > LT 700 MW)
-via LitPol Link DC interconnector with Poland (PL > LT 492 MW)
-via AC interconnector with Latvia (LV > LT 1201 MW)
The interconnectors with Latvia play a big role for the transition of the electricity generated not only in Latvia, but also in Estonia, Finland. It reaches Lithuanian power system via the Estlink 1 and Estlink 2 DC interconnectors Finland-Estonia (FI > EE 1016 MW), also the AC interconnector Estonia-Latvia (EE > LV 1447 MW).
Lithuanian electricity price is strongly influenced by the interconnection capacities - the maximum amounts of electricity that can be transmitted through interconnectors, set by the Baltic TSOs. As the wholesale electricity market prices are formed on a demand-supply basis, with limited capacity and demand exceeding available supply, there is a price differential between individual systems (price zones or countries) on the wholesale electricity exchange.
As the Baltic States prepare for the synchronisation with the continental European grid, several infrastructure projects are underway to strengthen the energy independence of the Baltic States, and thus interconnections’ capacities may be temporarily limited.
The map shows the main directions of electricity import into Lithuania and the installed capacities of these interconnectors.
You can monitor the planned capacities for the next seven days for these interconnectors here.
