On early Friday morning laying of power cables started at the shores of the Baltic sea. It is one of the fundamental construction stages of the international 450 kilometre long electricity link NordBalt, between Lithuania and Sweden, informs LETA/ELTA.

Photo: enmin.lt

Special cable laying ship Topaz Installer installed submarine power cables in pipes on the Baltic seabed.

Minister of Energy Jaroslav Neverovic said that capacity of electricity import will increase more than three times once the electricity link is operational in December 2015. Highly increased possibilities to import electricity from the Nordic countries will affect both participants of the market and consumers. Statistics show that average monthly electricity price is lower in Scandinavia compared to Lithuania and Latvia.

The Swedish cable laying vessel will work round-the-clock without any breaks, its work intensity is mostly determined by weather conditions and sea state. The work had been planned for the time when there is minimum probability of storms. Half of the work on the electricity link is expected to be carried out by the autumn, while laying of power cables will be completed next spring. Installation of power cables is conducted out the Swedish technology company ABB.

Electrical capacity of the electricity link will reach 700 megawatts, the total cost of the project amounts to LTL 1.9 billion (EUR 0.55 billion). The project is funded by the European Union, Sweden and Lithuania.