According to Elering CEO Kalle Kilk, switching from the Russian electricity system to the continental European one is a very big change as the Baltic countries will start to control the frequency of the electricity network themselves. The new system, which took ten years to build, cost €350 million in Estonia.

"The major infrastructure projects are all up and running and we are still putting the IT systems in place, so by the beginning of February everything will be 100 percent," Kilk said.

While the Russian grid, which is still operational, maintains the Estonian electricity frequency for a knock-down price, in the future it will be Estonian consumers who pay for the frequency maintenance. As Estonia will manage the system itself, more electricity reserves are also needed. Because the Baltics have not had the fastest reserves, they will need to purchased from service providers.

"The price of electricity is different, it will be determined by the market, but it will come in the form of a fee for the reserves. There has been a lot of talk about the fact that for the first six months or so it can be covered by the so-called 'congestion charges,' but in any case, in 2026 at least, there will be a component added to the consumer price, which specifically is the reserve charge," explained energy expert Arvi Hamburg.

"It will cost around €60 million at the beginning of the year. On a total energy bill, if the end user pays on average around 23 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), the impact will be around 0.5 cents more," Kilk said.

The Baltic countries will be able to operate as "island states" from next year even if electricity cables connecting them to the rest of Europe are cut.

"In the long term, more power plants will be needed for the system in any case, new ones especially. At the moment, there are enough old power stations, the Baltic countries can actually manage without external connections. Obviously, it will be tight and may create constraints, but we could manage," Kilk said.

At the end of the current decade, there will be a shortage of power plants able to provide reserves due to the phasing out of shale. Elering has therefore launched a call for tenders to procure up to 500 megawatts of capacity.

"It is likely that gas-fired power plants will be needed that can provide fast up- and down-regulation services and react to price changes in the electricity market. For example, new gas plants of the same kind as the Kiisa emergency power station," said Jaanus Uiga,  deputy secretary general at the Ministry of Climate.

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