Lithuania and Poland start discussing 2nd power link

This is one of the main topics of discussion at the European Economic Congress underway in Katowice, in which Lithuanian Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas is taking part, it said.

"The successful and rapid implementation of the LitPol Link project and the launch of a dialogue on the LitPol Link-2 construction and of a technical feasibility study on connecting the gas systems of Poland and Lithuania clearly show that a common energy market is the only road to a future Europe," Sekmokas said in the ministry's press release.

Jerzy Buzek, a former president of the European Parliament, underlined repeatedly that the infrastructure development was key to creating a European energy market, the ministry said.

Lithuania plans that the first power interconnection with Poland will be built by 2015, and the second one in 2018 to 2020. The 1,000-megawatt LitPol Link-1 on the Lithuanian side will cost 485 million litas (EUR 140.6 m), and the second power link with a capacity of 700 to 800 MW will cost another 380 million litas. 

LitPol Link is one of Lithuania's strategic energy projects. The interconnection will link the electricity transmission infrastructure of the three Baltic countries to that of Western Europe and pave the way for an integration of the electricity markets.