According to Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts the planned transmission limits don't mean that any technical restrictions would be implemented on the border between Estonia and Latvia but the question is rather about using market organization to divide capacities.
«In some part those capacities need to be divided in two ways: one part has to be at the command of the power exchange and the other part should be on auctions. This doesn't mean any technical limitations on electricity traffic but it is merely a question of how we divide the capacity,» Part told BNS.
«I presume that system operators will take necessary steps in that matter,» the minister added.
Market organization problems in both Latvia and Lithuania are not the legal kind but the question is about political agreements. «Agreements made in the framework of the Baltic Sea energy markets state that most of the produced electricity has to be sold on the power exchange. The current situation is not like that,» he said.
According to the minister another problem is Latvia's and Lithuania's all kinds of subsidies for different groups. «When looking at how much different consumer groups and also producers are subsidized in different ways today, it is a problem.»
The main question that Latvia is not reacting to is how they have been able to open the price area without foreseeing selling a large part of produced electricity via the power exchange, he said. Parts added that as a result of that such circumstances are able to occur where Estonian consumers pay 100 or 200 megawatts per hour in the summer.
Parts didn't want to answer to a question about when all parties might find a solution to the problem, saying that it is constantly being dealt with. «Here competition authorities, systems operators and Nord Pool Spot have to deal with it more. Certain solutions are also in the hands of Latvian and Lithuanian lawmakers,» he added.
The Estonian daily Postimees reported on Wednesday that Estonian Minister for Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts sent a sharp-toned letter to his Latvian and Lithuanian colleagues reproaching them for not opening their electricity markets in a way it was agreed beforehand.
Parts added that Estonia will set limits to electricity traffic on the Latvian border by means of the power exchange if Latvia and Lithuania do not take steps towards liberalization of the electricity market.
According to Latvia the accusation of Parts against Latvia and Lithuania concerning price fluctuations is groundless, and the electricity traffic limits on the border between Estonia and Latvia would be at variance with the principles of the European Union.
In Estonia's estimation the situation is the other way round and the desire is to rearrange the transmission capacity on the border between Estonia and Latvia according to legislation of the EU.