The Lithuanian government has announced that the tender for the construction of a second 700 MW offshore wind farm will be launched on 18 November 2024. This is another step towards increasing local energy production from renewable sources, which has increased from 30 to almost 70 per cent in recent years.

In July, the Seimas approved amendments to the Law on Energy from Renewable Sources, which stipulate that the sale price of electricity awarded in the tender will be adjusted for inflation. The registration period for tender participants was also amended, extending it to 120 calendar days.

The tender conditions allow developers to choose to implement the project with or without state support and to compete for the amount of possible support – for all or part of the energy produced. In the near future, the National Energy Regulatory Council (Valstybinė energetikos reguliavimo taryba VERT) will announce the minimum and maximum prices within which participants will be able to submit their bids for energy sales.

The planned wind farm will cover about a quarter of Lithuania’s current electricity demand. The farm will be built in an area of 136.39 km², 30 km from the Lithuanian coast. It is one of two offshore wind farm projects that will have a total capacity of 1.4 GW.

The Ministry of Energy is actively preparing the site for the investment by developing an offshore and onshore infrastructure development plan. An environmental impact assessment report has been approved and geophysical and geotechnical surveys of the seabed have been carried out, as well as measurements of wind speed and other hydrometeorological parameters.

The tender is organised by VERT and all documents and conditions can be found at: https://www.vert.lt/Puslapiai/default.aspx.