At the beginning of the year, Lithuania's energy minister surprised his counterparts with a proposal to jointly produce electricity in the Baltic states.

"We are currently in the conceptual phase," said Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas. "We have discussed with our Latvian and Estonian colleagues the general need for adequate reserves. Such additional capacities could be part of the solution. However, it is still too early to talk about specific technologies or timelines. We believe that such reserves would be beneficial."

The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy told ERR that regional projects could take various forms, such as a hydrogen corridor or a capacity reserve. A gas-fired power plant is one potential solution under consideration.

Estonia's Minister of Climate Yoko Alender (Reform) clarified that there are no plans to build a shared power plant.

"What the minister was referring to is that our cooperation in the Baltics, particularly regarding dispatchable capacities — power plants that can be switched on and off as needed — should be better coordinated in terms of how much capacity we have and when it becomes available. We can indeed agree with that proposal," said Alender.

This topic will also be addressed at next week's Baltic ministerial.

Recently, Dainius Kreivys, who stepped down as Lithuania's energy minister and is now an opposition MP, stated that existing analyses do not indicate an urgent need for new production capacities. However, the Baltic states could collaborate on promoting renewable energy and its export.

"The Baltic states have an opportunity to become electricity exporters to Germany and Central Europe, focusing on hydrogen or methanol. To achieve this, we would need a unified energy hub with connections to Germany," said Kreivys.

Lithuania has also recently strengthened protections for its electricity connection with Poland. According to the former energy minister, Lithuania has bolstered its power system and is fully prepared to disconnect from the Russian grid.

"We have one of the most stable systems in Europe, and for that reason, I sleep very soundly as we prepare to leave the Russian power system," said Kreivys.

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