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The largest energy companies and organisations from nine Baltic Sea countries have established the Baltic Energy Initiative. The partners will seek to cooperate on projects to strength energy security and competitiveness across the region.

The agreement was signed by 14 companies and organisations from nine countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, and Sweden. The signatories are Latvenergo, Eesti Energia, Enefit, Fortum, ORLEN, KN Energies, DNV Energy Systems, Topsoe, Siemens Energy, Adven, Steady Energy, P2X Solutions, Gasgrid Finland, and Vestas.

"At present, all countries around the Baltic Sea are more united than ever before as we share the same security and economic challenges in our efforts to build safe, prosperous, and united future. Energy is the backbone of shared prosperity, and international cooperation will enable Latvenergo to develop new competencies and business lines. This is particularly important considering our ambitions in sectors such as wind energy, data centres, and more widespread hydrogen use, as well as the need to gain new experience, including in other areas, to support the growth of the Group and the country," explains Mārtiņš Čakste, the Chief Executive Officer of Latvenergo AS.

The Baltic Energy Initiative is a platform to pool knowledge, exchange experience, and develop joint international projects. Its priority areas are the development of offshore wind farms, closer integration of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and bioLNG markets, the creation of a regional hydrogen market, carbon transport and storage, as well as the development of small modular nuclear reactors. The partners will also pool efforts to attract funding from the European Union programmes and other international sources.

Protection of energy infrastructure is a key area for the new partnership. Participants will share experience in protecting critical infrastructure, cybersecurity, emergency preparedness, as well as proper response to physical and hybrid threats. Projects that could make energy infrastructure more resilient will be assessed jointly, and potential sources of funding will be explored.

The Baltic Energy Initiative also aims to give the region’s energy sector a stronger voice in the dialogue with European institutions by providing a platform, where common positions and recommendations can be developed on regulatory, investment and support mechanisms for strategically important projects. By speaking with one voice, the partners will be able to promote their shared needs more effectively and make better use of the energy potential of the Baltic Sea region.