Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia’s electricity transmission system operators—Litgrid, Augstsprieguma tīkls, and Elering—have launched the Baltic Balancing Capacity Market. This market will provide reserve capacity for system balancing and frequency control as the Baltic power systems disconnect from the Russian-controlled IPS/UPS system and synchronise with continental Europe this weekend.
Donatas Matelionis, Head of the System Operation Department at Litgrid, emphasised the collaboration to ensure system stability during this transition. The first auctions in the market were held on Tuesday, with operators purchasing a total of 1,257 MW in balancing capacity, including 29 MW of frequency containment reserve (FCR) and 730 MW and 498 MW of manual frequency restoration reserve (mFRR) for upward and downward regulation, respectively.
Cross-zonal capacities for exchanging balancing capacities adhere to the European Balancing Guidelines. The purchase of Automatic Frequency Restoration Reserve (aFRR) capacities has been postponed due to technical issues, but operators will continue to procure mFRR capacities for stability until aFRR is available.
By 2025, the total market demand for balancing capacity in the Baltic States is expected to reach around 1,500 MW, driven by the growth of renewable energy and an increasing number of generating consumers. The synchronisation with continental Europe will promote independent and stable management of the Baltic electricity systems.
On 8 February 2025, the Baltic systems will disconnect from the Russian-operated IPS/UPS system for a joint isolated operation test, followed by synchronisation on 9 February. The EU’s Connecting Europe Facility partly funds these projects.
