Lithuania to launch second offshore wind tender

The announcement follows approval by the European Commission of the support scheme for the project. In October 2023, the European Commission approved €193M (US$203M) for the windfarm.

The first offshore wind tender in the country was won by Ignitis Renewables, a subsidiary of a renewables-focused integrated utility Ignitis Group, and Ocean Winds.

The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy said it plans to launch the second offshore wind tender on 15 January 2024, although the proposal to do so still needs to be approved by the government.

Vice Minister of Energy Daiva Garbaliauskaitė said, “Development of offshore windfarms is gaining momentum. We are laying the foundations for a second offshore wind tender. We are aiming for two offshore windfarms, which will meet up to half of Lithuania’s current electricity demand. This would be a significant increase in national electricity generation.”

The Ministry of Energy is planning two 1.4-GW offshore windfarms in the Lithuanian sector of the Baltic near Palanga. The windfarms will be able to generate around 6 TWh of green electricity a year. It has stipulated that at least 3% of the construction work for the windfarms should be carried out by small and medium-sized enterprises in the country.

The successful tenderer will be required to provide at least €5M for environmental protection in the Lithuanian maritime area. Once the offshore windfarm is built, the developer will be obliged to make an annual contribution of €1 per MWh of electricity generated to municipal communities close to the windfarm. Preliminary estimates suggest that this could amount to around €3M a year.

The area in the Baltic identified for the second 700-MW offshore windfarm is approximately 136 km². It will be developed approximately 30 km from the coast.