900 ha of land will be freed up after the dismantling of power lines

About 900 hectares of land will be freed up when the Baltic countries synchronise their electricity grids with Europe and Lithuania dismantles unnecessary lines with Russia and Belarus, the Minister of Energy says. 

„These works have a symbolic meaning, but there are also practical implications. The dismantling of the lines and the removal of the pylons will also free up a significant amount of land - around 900 hectares. This land will be available for use by farmers and for other purposes without restrictions, Žygimantas Vaičiūnas told reporters in the Vilkaviškis district on Monday.

„It (the land – BNS) is now an easement. Where there are lines, where there are certain buffer zones and where there are pylons, it (the land – BNS) cannot now be used for agricultural or other purposes. Once those hectares, that land, are freed up, it will be possible to use it for its intended purpose," the Energy Minister said.

According to him, all power lines with Russia and Belarus are to be dismantled in about a year and a half, with the dismantling of some 544 pylons and 230 kilometres of wires. 

According to Ž. Vaičiūnas, some of the dismantled line infrastructure in good condition, such as isolators, will be handed over to Ukraine.

„Litgrid“ CEO Rokas Masiulis said that Ukrainian energy companies are constantly offered to transfer unnecessary equipment to Lithuania. 

„Whenever we have some equipment, like in this case we have an isolator, we send photos, we show them what we have, sometimes they come, they evaluate, they choose what they need, and then we send everything. Constant communication," Masiulis told reporters on Monday.   

The final cost of dismantling the lines with Russia and Belarus is not yet known, but it won't be significant parts, he said: „Demolish – don't build“. 

According to „Litgrid“ manager, most of the supports to be dismantled are old, so both they and the line wires will be recycled. 

Ž. According to Vaičiūnas, two weeks after the synchronisation, no signals related to Russia's dissatisfaction or provocations have been recorded. 

With the Baltic countries connecting their electricity grids to continental Europe in early February, work is underway in Lithuania to dismantle the pylons of the first of six lines to Russia's Kaliningrad region. 

The dismantling of the pylons of the line Kruonis Hydroelectric Power Plant (KHPP)–Sovetskas starts on Monday.

„Litgrid“ spokesman Matas Noreika told BNS earlier that the dismantling of the first supports on this line will be a part of the currently under construction line Kruonis HAE–Bitėnai, while the dismantling of the other lines will be subject to a public procurement procedure. 

The dismantling of all the pylons of the power lines with Russia and Belarus is planned to be completed in the second half of 2026. 

„This is a one-and-a-half-year programme to clean it all up, to free up the land“, – said R. Masiulis. 

With the Baltic countries disconnected from the Russian electricity system on 8 February and connected to the European grid on 9 February, the power lines with Russia and Belarus are no longer needed. The day after the synchronisation, the wires of these lines were cut.

Of the 11 lines with Belarus that were in operation in Lithuania in recent years, only one has been in operation recently, and of the six with Kaliningrad, three have been in operation.