International power transformer producer ABB will build a converter station in Lithuania as part of the Polish-Lithuanian power link project, LitPol Link. ABB signed a $111 million contract with Lithuanian power grid operator Litgrid.

The $500 million power link project is scheduled to be completed in 2015. The link is supported and co-financed by the European Union as part of a goal to eliminate the isolation of member states' power systems.

“This is the real start of construction on a link uniting the electricity markets of the Baltic states and the European Union,” Lithuanian Energy Minister Jaroslav Neverovic said at the signing, according to a separate e-mailed statement. “For Lithuania it’s literally an ‘energy window’ on Europe.”

Poland A.M.