Litgrid as the transmission system operator in Lithuania plays one of the key roles in the development of the energy system, including renewable energy sources. Lithuania has ambitions for the development of offshore wind energy and is trying to implement them successfully. About the role of Litgrid in the process of offshore wind farm development in Lithuania we talk with Rokas Masiulis, CEO of Litgrid. The commentary was originally published in BalticWind.EU Quarterly Country Report Lithuania Q1 2022.
Rokas Masiulis underlined that offshore wind development, with all its complexity and strategic importance, cannot be perceived as only one country’s project.
“It is important while developing the concrete project to see a bigger picture, how it fits to the wider system, and how today’s actions might affect further developments of overall offshore wind potential integration. Our, as Litgrid’s, role is to provide and prepare a connection point onshore for offshore wind farms and not only to assure that upcoming offshore wind projects would be integrated into the system in a most efficient way, but also to develop future proof solutions that allow full Lithuanian offshore wind potential to be incorporated to European energy system”, he said.
Masiulis added that TSO does not develop offshore wind farms but, looking at the closest perspective, Litgrid as a transmission system operator has a very clear task in this process: to connect first stage offshore wind park in the most efficient, economically and technically feasible way that assures system security and transparent market operations.
“This way, our main tasks are oriented towards applying the best practices from more experienced TSOs for the development of local activities”, the CEO of Litgrid explained.
“Additionally, together with Tepco Power Company we are evaluating different possible integration designs for overall Lithuanian offshore wind potential. We work with our European partners to assure that Lithuanian offshore wind development would be in line with necessary grid reinforcements not only in Lithuanian power system, but also in Baltic Sea region. Already in 2025 Lithuanian transmission system will be synchronised with Continental Europe Network, so we must prepare our own system to be secure, resilient, and adequate. Integration of high amounts of RES makes this task a bit more challenging, so we must prepare for it now”, he said.
Challenges for Litgrid
In 2020, when the European Commission announced the Offshore wind strategy, and later in 2021, “Fit for 55” package, it became clear that a breakthrough point for energy transition was reached – Rokas said.
”It was a point when everyone understood that offshore wind and other RES development and integration became a new MEGA project. Meanwhile, Baltic States and Poland already worked on the biggest and the most important regional MEGA project – Baltic Synchronisation with CEN. Having two MEGA projects in your portfolio for a small TSO as Litgrid is quite challenging…
The full article you can find in BalticWind.EU Quarterly Country Report Lithuania Q1 2022.
