Lithuania has launched trial electricity production at a new solar power plant connected to the national electricity transmission system operator, Litgrid, in the Tauragė district. This plant is the third solar power facility to join the Lithuanian electricity transmission network and marks the establishment of the country’s first hybrid park, where both solar and wind energy are harnessed at the same site.
“Hybrid parks, where solar installations are added to existing wind farms within the same point in the transmission grid, are more efficient due to the shared infrastructure. These setups are crucial for Lithuania’s aim to generate 100 per cent of its electricity from renewable resources,” explained Donatas Matelionis, head of Litgrid’s System Management Department adding that in Lithuania, the overlap of solar and wind production is rare, and any excess production can be managed by implementing storage systems.
The solar power plant is being developed by Ignitis Renewables, an international green energy company. Giedrius Meškelė, head of renewable energy in Lithuania at Ignitis Renewables underlined that their wind power park has been operating successfully in the Tauragė district for over a decade and now a solar power plant will join it. The first hybrid park will significantly contribute to the goal of Ignitis to expand its green production capacities.
The solar power plant has an installed capacity of 22 megawatts (MW), with a permitted generation capacity of 17 MW. The wind farm at this location has an installed and permitted generating capacity of 15 MW. The solar power park is expected to commence commercial operations in 2025.
Currently, the combined permitted generation capacity of solar and wind power plants in Lithuania, including those connected to both transmission and distribution networks, stands at 2.8 gigawatts (GW), which is about half of the country’s total electricity generation capacity. Litgrid’s projections indicate that by 2030, the Lithuanian electricity market will be capable of supporting at least 4.4 GW of solar and 5 GW of wind power generation capacities, totaling 9.4 GW. This expansion comes in anticipation of a significant increase in electricity demand over the coming decades.
Lithuania’s Ministry of Energy highlighted that the launch of the country’s first hybrid renewable energy park represents a milestone in Lithuania’s transition to sustainable energy, leveraging existing infrastructure to maximize efficiency and drive progress toward a fully renewable energy grid.