Ignitis Group, whose company Ignitis Renewables is developing Lithuania’s first offshore wind farm, says the commercial operation date (COD) for the 700 MW project could be postponed as large-scale electrolysis projects across Europe face delays, reducing power offtake visibility.
The company, in a joint venture with Ocean Winds, secured the development rights for the offshore wind farm, named Curonian Nord, in Lithuania’s first offshore wind auction, held in 2023. The project’s COD was scheduled to be in 2030.
Ignitis, which expects to make a final investment decision (FID) on Curonian Nord after the completion of development and obtaining a construction permit in 2027, revealed that the offshore wind farm’s COD may be delayed in its 2024 results published in February.
“[As] a result of large-scale electrolysis projects being delayed across Europe, including the Baltics, possibilities to secure long-term power offtake have reduced. Combined with challenges in the current offshore wind supply chain environment, financing of the project may become challenging as we approach FID in 2027” , Ignitis states in its 2024 report.
“As a result, there might be a need to delay the project COD until there is more visibility on the electrolysis demand and/or the interconnector with Germany. We will continue to monitor the market developments and will update our plans accordingly.”
In a statement published on 18 March, Ignitis said the development of the 700 MW Curonian Nord project continued and that around EUR 50 million had been invested by the Group to date.
“Of this, EUR 20 million has been paid as a development fee and EUR 30 million has been allocated for environmental impact assessment, wind speed, water and meteorological measurements, various seabed surveys and other necessary works, which for the most part may also be flexibly used in the future without time constraints”, Ignitis said on 18 March.
Last year, Ignitis Renewables prepared an environmental impact assessment (EIA) programme on whose basis the EIA for the project is being conducted, and also started wind and metocean measurement campaigns at the offshore wind farm site.
Ignitis Renewables is also looking to build Lithuania’s second 700 MW offshore wind farm.
In October 2024, the company announced its decision to participate in the Lithuanian Contracts for Difference (CfD) tender and launch a partner selection process for up to 49 per cent ownership in the project.
However, in January 2025, the tender was suspended and is expected to be relaunched this year. Ignitis says it will decide whether to participate in the relaunched tender once the (new) conditions of the tender are known.