Lithuania’s Klaipėda Transformer Substation Prepared for Connection with NordBalt

"The reconstruction of one of the key electricity transmission hubs in Lithuania is another important step towards the successful implementation of the NordBalt project, a power interconnection between Lithuania and Sweden. The substation's reconstruction was carried out to the highest standards of security and reliability of electricity transmission. Now we will be able to ensure a better control and management of the power system and deal with any disruption of the power system in time and more effectively," said Karolis Sankovski, Head of the Strategic Infrastructure Department and Member of the Board of the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator Litgrid.

In one year the Klaipėda substation will become a vital hub of electricity transmission in Lithuania. The Klaipėda substation which is now used to transmit electricity via high voltage cross border lines with Latvia and Kaliningrad will transmit electricity from Sweden when NordBalt is put into operation. The Klaipėda substation was also connected with the Klaipėda-Telšiai power line, the first 330-kV power transmission line built since the restoration of independence.

The reconstruction of the Klaipėda substation involved the dismantling of old 330-kV and 110-kV sections, the renovation of more than ten of 110-kV overhead power lines and cables, and the construction of new modular buildings for 10-kV, 110-kV and 330-kV switchyard control rooms. The Klaipėda substation has been equipped with two autotransformers, the most powerful in the Lithuanian electricity transmission grid, and new control rooms from which the substation's data is automatically sent to the System Control Center in Vilnius. The place for building the HVDC back-to-back converter station of NordBalt was well thought out, by applying advanced planning strategies and technological solutions: the part of the converter station's building occupies the territory of the old 110-kV switchyard, with the new 110-kV switchyard built nearly.

The reconstruction of the Klaipėda substation started in February 2012, with the estimated cost of EUR 65 million of which nearly a third was financed from the European Regional Development Fund.