Wind energy specialists: Lithuania can become the second Kuwait if there is one condition – AINA
According to the calculations of the Association of Lithuanian Wind Power Plants, about 3.5 gigawatts (GW) of wind projects with installed power are enough to meet the electricity needs of the country’s population, which means that the current capacity should increase 4-5 times, but the country’s potential is much higher. Researchers from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and the University of Aarhus in Denmark have calculated that the production potential of wind energy installed in Lithuania exceeds the capabilities of Germany, the leader in wind energy, by at least 2-3 times. Not only the geographical position of the country is favorable for the development of wind energy, but also available free land areas suitable for the development of wind power parks, according to experts.
In the previous year, Lithuania reached the installed capacity of 668 megawatts (MW) of wind power plants in the country and is currently approaching the 800 MW mark. Meanwhile, the National Strategy for Energy Independence envisages an ambitious goal of reaching 7 GW of installed capacity from renewable energy sources by the 2030s.
“Last year, electricity produced by wind covered 10% of electricity in Lithuania. of the country’s annual electricity needs. Compared to the overall EU average of 14%, the gap is not that big. However, increasing wind energy capacity means not only sustainable and cheaper electricity production, but also energy independence”, comments Edgaras Maladauskas, executive director of the Lithuanian Wind Power Association (LVEA).
According to the calculations of his association members, there would be enough at least 50 wind power parks in the country, with a total installed capacity of 3.5 GW – which would cover the entire country’s electricity needs even on a less windy day.
Geographical location favorable for wind energy
The installed power of Lithuanian wind parks has the potential to grow at much higher rates, as wind energy experts are convinced that not all opportunities are currently being used. According to Dainiaus Jurėnas, head of the renewable energy project design studio “Archstudija”, Lithuania’s geography is extremely favorable for the development of wind energy.
“Geographically, Lithuania is the most attractive in Europe in terms of wind energy potential. nevertheless, today we are 20 times behind Germany in terms of wind farm density. Since wind power plants are currently high, there is not much difference in where to build those power plants – in Eastern or Western Lithuania,” he says.
This is confirmed by the conclusion published a few years ago by researchers from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and Aarhus University in Denmark that Eastern European countries have the largest additional potential for onshore wind energy production in Europe. According to researchers’ calculations, the potential of installed power in Lithuania and neighboring Latvia reaches 1.9-4.5 MW per square kilometer, while in Germany and Poland, which are the leaders in wind energy, it amounts to 1.2-1.9 MW/sq. km
According to the Global Wind Atlas, the meteorological conditions in the country are also conducive to the development of wind energy: in terms of windiness, Lithuania shares 7-8 places with Belgium among the 27 countries of the European Union.
According to D. Jurėnas, on land, Lithuania has 10 times more space for wind power parks than developers can use. Therefore, while there are still suitable land areas for wind energy development in the country, ambitions to develop offshore wind power parks are evaluated with caution.
It is necessary to increase the bandwidth of the network
Although theoretically there is a lot of potential to develop wind energy in Lithuania, the development is limited by the ability to connect to electricity networks.
According to the Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator Litgrid, the country’s electricity transmission network capacity currently reaches 3.6 GW. Most of the capacity (2.2 GW) has already been reserved by onshore wind park developers, another 1.4 GW has been reserved for offshore wind farms.
“In order to expand wind energy in Lithuania, it is necessary to invest in electricity networks and increase their capacity. The capacities of most transmission lines are already reserved for projects under development, so the most challenges arise for the developers of new projects planning the further development of renewable energy,” says Martynas Petravičius, head of the Energy Design Institute.
According to him, Lithuania itself should also be interested in increasing the bandwidth of the networks, and private capital funds could be used for this: “If wind energy is well developed, we would open the possibility for the export of electricity.”
D. Jurėnas also agrees with the interviewer – Lithuania could become the second Kuwait if the state’s strategic goal was set for it.
“We should decide whether we want to be a rich, non-polluting country that exports green energy to Europe, or gas consumers and the most expensive electricity producers. We have all the technical possibilities, we just need to curb the bureaucracy, which makes the development of wind power parks take from 3 to 6 years at best”, emphasizes D. Jurėnas.
According to E. Maladauskas, head of LVEA, the boom in network reservations and issued development permits in the last period shows that the problem is not in permits, but in the network’s ability to receive such a large amount of additional planned generation. The focus should be on the introduction of flexibility measures and the development of energy export opportunities in the long term.
“The demand for electricity is growing not only in Lithuania, so by increasing wind generation, we could meet the needs of our own growing consumption and offer electricity to other countries. This is an unexploited opportunity that we should include in our plans for the coming years, not limited to the domestic market. In addition, the business develops renewable energy completely without the state, and these business development projects significantly support the increase of the income of the residents of the regions of Lithuania, the increase in the collection of state taxes and lower state debt. This is relevant in the context of the currently planned deficit state budget (~-4% deficit)”, says E. Maladauskas.
According to the forecasts of WindEurope, the organization uniting the European wind energy industry, published even before the war caused by Russia in Ukraine, in Europe during 2022-2026 the installed capacity of wind power plants should reach 116 GW – 23.1 GW each year. However, in order to reach 40% by 2030 renewable energy targets, the European Union (EU) would need 32 GW of new wind capacity each year. At the beginning of March, these ambitions were increased by the “REPower EU” plan announced by the European Commission, which increased the already planned 40%. target implementation bar up to 45 percent.