Lithuania is taking back control of its energy system and becomes part of the single European Union (EU) grid, said Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, who attended the event in Telšiai.
"I am happy that the Government will be able in a position to say at the end of its term that it has done everything in its power to ensure that the disconnection from BRELL (the post-Soviet electricity ring with Belarus and Russia) is a fact, that it will happen in 2025, and that the processes that have been done are irreversible," Šimonytė told reporters on Friday.
Minister of Energy Dainius Kreivys observed that Lithuania will be free to increase its renewable energy volumes once the synchronous condenser is in operation and the country decouples from BRELL.
"Each of these facilities will allow us to use more and more renewable energy, which means that we will have an increasing energy independence and better prices for our people and our businesses," he said.
The project cost EUR 96.28 million, its 75% share was funded by the EU.
Lithuania is set to synchronise with the European grid together with Latvia and Estonia by February 2025.
In total, three synchronous condensers will be integrated into the transmission grid in Lithuania – at the transformer substations in Telšiai, Alytus, and Neris. The installation of the Alytus synchronous condenser is expected to be completed later this month and the last one in the Vilnius district is due to become operational in the spring of 2025, according to Kreivys.