2018-12-21
New Polish-Lithuanian submarine HVDC cable – “Harmony Link”. Initial Cooperation Agreement signed
Today the Management Boards/CEO’s of Polish and Lithuanian Transmission System Operators, PSE and LITGRID, signed Initial Cooperation Agreement, being the commitment of both TSO's to undertake development activities in the Preparation Phase of the project of construction of new Polish-Lithuanian submarine HVDC cable. Also today the Management teams decided to name new interconnector as “HARMONY Link”.
The Initial Cooperation Agreement establishes the principles of cooperation within the Preparation Phase of the project. This phase encompasses set of activities which aim towards taking the so-called Investment Decision, following which the procurement for the construction of the “HARMONY Link” will be launched. In line with the current forecasts the Investment Decision should arrive in 2020.
“The cross-border energy infrastructure project agreement signed between Polish and Lithuanian partners today is yet another clear sign of political and professional accord of working hand in hand to help the three Baltic states gain full control of their electricity networks, operate under common and transparent European rules for the benefit of consumers and energy supply security,” said Miguel Arias Cañete, the Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy in the EU.
“Signing the Initial Cooperation Agreement is a result of several months of extensive works, which allowed to identify and plan the activities in the first part of the project. This work and the Agreement itself will form a solid foundation for the first part and subsequent successful implementation of the “HARMONY Link” says Mr. Eryk Kłossowski PSE’s CEO.
Mr. Davis Virbickas CEO of LITGRID adds „The agreement signed is the first-hand evidence of professional cross boarder co-operation based on common solidarity values with every effort made to bring to life this technically complex in secure and cost-efficient way by the targeted 2025 date”.
Initiation of the works on the “HARMONY Link” is directly linked to the Political Roadmap for synchronizing the Baltic States’ electricity grid with Continental Europe, the agreement signed on 28 June 2018 by the President of European Commission and Heads of State and Government of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland.
The Political Roadmap assumed the technical solution for synchronizing Baltic States’ system by target date of 2025, consisting of the synchronization via the existing line between Lithuania and Poland (LitPol Link), complemented by a new undersea cable between Poland and Lithuania. The technical solution, after verification of the technical, financial and time-related preconditions received green light from High Level Group BEMIP on 14 September 2018. While the process of synchronization runs under the supervision of ENTSO-E Regional Group Continental Europe, the construction of the “HARMONY Link” will be a task of the PSE and LITGRID.