On 9 April, Minister of Energy of Lithuania Žygimantas Vaičiūnas attended the annual conference of the European Wind Energy Association, Wind Europe 2025, in Copenhagen (Denmark).
During the conference, Minister of Energy Mr Vaičiūnas met with Kaspars Melnis, Minister for Climate and Energy of the Republic of Latvia, and Volker Oschmann, Director General for Electricity at the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, and together they presented the planned project of an offshore electricity interconnector between the Baltic States and Germany.
The Lithuanian, Latvian and German electricity transmission system operators – Litgrid, Augstsprieguma tīkls and 50Hertz – have agreed, with the support of their respective ministries, on the concept of the hybrid offshore electricity interconnector project and on the first step, i.e. a socio-economic assessment, to include the project in the European power grid development plans.
“I would like to thank my Latvian and German colleagues, both at ministerial and TSO level, for their work and excellent cooperation so far. Lithuania sees this offshore electricity interconnector as one of the key projects to expand the integration of our markets and to promote the development of renewable energy sources, and we will therefore devote our full attention to this project and its preparatory work. I am pleased that we have agreed to submit the project application for the TYNDP process, which will put this initiative on the European map as a concrete energy infrastructure project, while the TYNDP process will help find a technically and economically optimal regional solution,” said Minister of Energy Žygimantas Vaičiūnas.
The attendants of the Copenhagen meeting confirmed that the TSOs would submit a joint application in May for the project to be included in the Ten Year Network Development Plan 2026 (TYNDP) of the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). ENTSO-E will carry out a detailed socio-economic analysis of the project as part of this TYNDP process and will assess the potential benefits of this project.
The project concept foresees a hybrid offshore interconnector between the Baltic States and Germany with a length of about 600 km and a capacity of 2 GW. The connection point in the Baltic States could be located on the Lithuanian or Latvian border – the exact location would be determined after detailed technical studies. The project could be completed by 2035–2037.
This offshore interconnector would increase the reliability of electricity supply in Lithuania, Latvia and Germany, and open up new opportunities for the Baltic States to develop renewable energy projects at sea and on land. It is also one of the priorities of the 19th Government Programme and one of the key factors in ensuring an ambitious and consistent development of renewable energy in Lithuania.
Source: Lithuanian Ministry of Energy
