Lithuania Opens Second Offshore Wind Tender

January 15, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

Lithuania’s National Energy Regulatory Council (NERC) has opened the country’s second offshore wind tender which, same as the first one, is looking for a developer of a 700 MW offshore wind farm.

Interested developers now have until 15 April to register and submit their documents and offers, which will then be undergoing evaluation until 27 May at the latest.

The tender committee will then compile a list of the candidates who have met the tender requirements and announce the provisional winner by the end of May.

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The final confirmation is expected to be announced at the beginning of August, after the developer’s compliance with national security interests is verified.

Lithuania’s second offshore wind tender was originally planned to be launched in Autumn 2023, but it was pushed back to January 2024 after Lithuania’s Ministry of Energy received feedback from investors on the global renewable energy sector being affected by the current economic conditions.

At a meeting NERC held earlier this month, the regulatory body approved a few changes to the conditions of the offshore wind tender, including a provision that enables the bidders to compete for the opportunity to receive an incentive for the produced electricity 15 years after the issuance of the electricity production permit. The highest possible price in this regard is set to 107.18 EUR/MWh and the lowest is 64.31 EUR/MWh.

Ahead of the tender, the minimum possible installed capacity of the proposed offshore wind farm has also been increased, with the projects now required to have a minimum of 700 MW instead of the initially set 580 MW. The maximum capacity remains 700 MW.

The developer of Lithuania’s second offshore wind farm will not have to carry out surveys and site investigations that are needed for an environmental impact assessment (EIA) and project development as these are carried out by the State.

The site in the Baltic Sea where Lithuania plans to build its second offshore wind farm is located 30 kilometers from Palanga and covers about 136.39 square kilometers.

Lithuania’s second offshore wind farm could be operational as soon as 2028.