Early Development Other

On 18 February 2026, the energy ministers of Germany, Latvia and Lithuania signed a Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) for the Baltic-German PowerLink hybrid offshore interconnector on the sidelines of the International Energy Agency Ministerial Meeting in Paris. The signatories were German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche, Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas, and Latvian Climate and Energy Minister Kaspars Melnis. The declaration commissions the three transmission system operators — 50Hertz (Germany), AST (Latvia) and Litgrid (Lithuania) — to develop a joint technical and economic implementation concept by autumn 2026, with the explicit objective of fulfilling the European Union's requirements for funding as a Project of Common Interest (PCI). The agreed concept envisages an approximately 600 km submarine cable connection between Germany and a landfall point in either south-west Latvia or north-west Lithuania, with an onshore power hub through which around 2 GW of offshore wind capacity can be fed both towards Germany via the interconnector and into the AST and Litgrid grids. The signing formalises political backing at ministerial level for the previously concept-stage project, advancing it past the May 2025 TYNDP application milestone, and is expected to be followed by a decision on the next development steps at the end of 2026.