Polish and Lithuanian Transmission System Operators, PSE and LITGRID, signed the Initial Cooperation Agreement to start the Preparation Phase of the construction of the submarine HVDC cable, a new interconnector named “HARMONY Link” by the two sides.
The Initial Cooperation Agreement establishes the principles of cooperation within the Preparation Phase of the project. This phase precedes the Investment Decision, followed by the construction of the “HARMONY Link”. In line with the current forecasts, the Investment Decision should be done in 2020.
“The cross-border energy infrastructure project agreement signed between Polish and Lithuanian partners (…) 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” declared Eryk Kłossowski PSE’s CEO and member of the Board of Directors of CEEP.
The CEO of LITGRID, a CEEP member company, Davis Virbickas added „The agreement signed is the first-hand evidence of professional cross border co-operation based on common solidarity values with every effort made to bring to life this technically complex in a secure and cost-efficient way by the targeted 2025 date”.
The “HARMONY Link” is part of the Political Roadmap for synchronising the Baltic States’ electricity grid with Continental Europe, signed on the 28th of June 2018 by the President of the European Commission and Heads of State and Government of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland.