Developers: PSE of Poland and Lietuvos Energija of Lithuania 

Project detail and status: The planned power link will consist of a 154 km, double-circuit HVDC 400 kV overhead line, connecting Alytus in Lithuania and Elk in Poland. The project also involves reconstruction of the Alytus and Elk substations. About 106 km of the line will be within the Polish borders. 

The link will be developed jointly by the Polish Transmission System Operator PSE and its Lithuanian counterpart Lietuvos Energija. An agreement for the project was signed in February 2008. A joint venture company was registered in Warsaw, Poland in 2008 to implement the project. In April 2009, a regional representation office was established for coordinating developments on interconnection project. 

The joint ventures company has received EUR214 million in EU funds to finance the project so far, with more to come in the next few years. The European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), through its Ignalina International Decommissioning Support Fund, has announced financial support for construction of this link. The Fund will contribute EUR2 million for studies to examine the financial, technical and territorial planning and the environmental impact of the line. 

In May 2009, it was announced that the link is expected to be completed in 2015 and reach its full transfer capacity by 2018. In 2015, the transfer capacity on the line will be 500-600 MW and increased to 1,000-1,200 MW by 2018. 

In November 2009, LitPol Link floated an international tender for a consultant to create a business model and work out the financial aspects of the transmission interconnection. A consortium of Sweco International and Sweco Lietuva is conducting the environmental impact assessment study for the transmission interconnection; preparing a special project plan for the segment between the Alytus substation and the Polish border; and conducting a feasibility study for upgrading the Alytus substation in Central Lithuania. These studies are expected to be completed by December 2010.