The agreement, signed in Vilnius, also commits the two countries to closer cooperation on protecting energy infrastructure and to helping each other in a crisis.
Polish Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka said the Harmony Link project was fundamental to regional security, pointing to the threat of hybrid warfare.
“Various situations occur in different European countries, and in this extraordinary time of hybrid warfare they can affect our power system”, he said. “The better, faster and more stable the connections between our countries, the better the response to the loss of some capacity in the system”.
For Lithuania, the link is also a step towards becoming an electricity exporter, Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevicius said. It would let power generated in the country flow to where it is most needed.
“Lithuanian energy is changing and developing quickly”, he said. “Not long ago we imported a large part of the electricity we needed. Today we increasingly produce it ourselves”.
Grzegorz Onichimowski, president of the management board of Polish grid operator PSE, said consumers could benefit too.
“Thanks to this connection, perhaps our customers will also have cheaper energy”, he said.
Harmony Link will be the second power connection between the two countries. The first, LitPol Link, began operating in late 2015.
(jh)
Source: Polish Radio