All construction works of Latvia’s Transmission System Operator AST development project Estonia-Latvia third 330 kilovolts (kV) interconnection has been completed and the newly built 330 kV electricity transmission line from Estonia to Riga CHP-2 in Latvia has been put into operation.
“Completion of this project is an important step in strengthening the energy independence of both Latvia and Baltic countries and an important step on the path to upcoming synchronisation of electricity transmission networks with Europe in 2025,” said Varis Boks, Chairman of the Board of AST. “The construction of the new line will allow us to disconnect two existing ageing interconnection lines between Latvia and Estonia for their reconstruction so that afterwards, the refurbished Estonia-Latvia interconnection would be fully prepared for the synchronous operation of Baltics with continental Europe.”
The transmission capacity of the new line is 600 megawatts (MW), which will complement current Estonia-Latvia cross-section transmission capacity greatly. Until now, the existing transmission capacity of the interconnection was insufficient to ensure the required volume of electricity trade between Latvia and Estonia, which resulted in congestion and electricity price differences in certain hours of the day.
It is planned to eliminate the transmission capacity deficit in the Estonia-Latvia cross-section completely by the year 2024 when the reconstruction activities on the Valmiera – Tartu and Valmiera – Tsirgulina lines will be finalised. The project is also an important contributor to the security of electricity supply and stable operation of the electricity transmission network both locally in Latvia and in the Baltics region in general.
