Lithuanian media slammed Poland Thursday after the two countries failed to sign a "power bridge" agreement designed to hook Lithuania and other Baltic EU states into the bloc's electricity grid via Poland, reported dpa. "Poles slap Lithuanians in the face," the Thursday edition of Lithuania's Lietuvos Rytas daily declared. Small Lithuania is hoping to connect its electrical grid with the EU via Poland to shield it from an electricity shortfall when Lithuania closes the existing Ignalina nuclear power plant. Known as "a power bridge", the 300 million-euro link is a crucial part of plans to build a new Ignalina nuclear power plant. Lithuania and Poland want to build it together with two other EU members from the Baltics, Latvia and Estonia. The new Ignalina plant must have a high megawatt capacity to meet Poland's needs and make building the power bridge to neighbouring Lithuania viable, an anonymous source at Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) told Poland's Gazeta Wyborcza daily Thursday. Poland needs a 1,000-megawatt share of the planned project for the power bridge to be commercially viable, according to the source. Lithuania has not yet specified whether the planned Ignalina nuclear facility will have a 1,600 or 3,200-megawatt capacity, the PGE source said. The EU is prepared to pay 135 million euros (192 million dollars) for the venture. Poland would have to pay the balance, the PGE source said. The two countries were supposed to ink the agreement during a two- day energy conference this week in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius focused on easing European energy dependence on Russia. Officially the agreement was not signed for "technical reasons." "We have not created a company that could assume the responsibility," Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus told journalists on Wednesday night in Vilnius. Poland and Lithuania have, however, pledged to sign the agreement next month. Lithuanian analysts have expressed doubt over its conclusion. Lithuania must shut down Ignalina at the end of 2009 as part of an agreement with the European Union.
