Ignitis Group has decided to participate in Lithuania’s second tender for the rights to develop around 700 MW of offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea and will launch a partner selection process for up to 49 per cent ownership.
The tender is planned to be launched on 18 November 2024. The winner is expected to be announced by the National Energy Regulatory Council (NERC) overseeing the process on its website by the end of April 2025.
If no partners are selected by the end of the tender, the Ignitis Group will participate in the tender without partners and continue the selection process in parallel, the company said.
According to Ignitis, the firm aims to increase its Green Capacities four times from 1.3 GW in 2023 to 4-5 GW by 2030.
Ignitis Group said it plans to develop one offshore wind project with COD around 2030 and one with a COD post-2030.
At the start of this year, NERC launched Lithuania’s second offshore wind tender, seeking a developer of a 700 MW offshore wind farm. However, in April, the country decided to discontinue it after receiving just one bid.
In August, Lithuania’s Ministry of Energy proposed a new date for the second offshore wind auction.
The Lithuanian government held the auction, the country’s first for an offshore wind project, last year. In July 2023, the government provisionally selected the joint venture between Ocean Winds and Ignitis Renewables. Three months later, it officially confirmed the joint venture as the developer of Lithuania’s first offshore wind farm.
Lithuania plans to have two offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 1.4 GW. Both projects would provide about half of the country’s current electricity demand, according to the ministry.