Latvia’s grid operator, AST, has received three offers for the supply and installation of two battery energy storage systems (BESS) as the Baltic region prepares to decouple from Russia’s electricity system in 2025. The contracts will be for a 20MW/40MWh system at a substation in Tume and a 60MW/120MWh one at a substation in Rezekne, totalling 80MW/160MWh. Bids for the contract came from SIA Monum, Nidec ASI, and Rolls-Royce Solutions, with financial offers ranging from €79-87 million (US$86-95 million).
The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are preparing to disconnect from Russia’s electricity system and synchronise with the European electricity system in 2025. BESS projects will play a crucial role in providing backup at high-speed and automatically activating frequency regulation reserves at a much lower cost than conventional power plants currently do. Both projects will be co-financed from EU funds, with the Tume project benefiting from the infrastructure-focused Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) while the Rezneke system will receive funds through RePowerEu.
Developers Evecon and Corsica Sole have announced they will build two 200MW BESS projects in Estonia, totalling 200MW. The projects will be completed in Q2/Q3 2025 and provide emergency reserve power. The projects can also be converted into a storage facility for renewable energy in the future. Construction on Kiisa is set to start in Spring 2025, while Arukylä will begin earlier in Q4 2024. The projects are being deployed through the Baltic Storage Platform, which is 80% owned by Corsica Sale and 20% by Evecon.