Lithuania eyes June date to re-launch offshore wind site next to Russian exclave
Government to offer ready environmental impact assessment and preparations for grid link in auction with $138 price ceiling
Lithuania’s government intends to re-launch its second 700MW offshore wind tender in early June, the Baltic country’s energy minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas said at a panel of the WindEurope conference in Copenhagen.
The government in Vilnius plans to take the decision about the launch today (Wednesday), and it then is slated to pass parliament in late April or early May, the minister said.
“The tender could be launched at the beginning of June”, Vaiciunas said, adding that it will offer contract for difference (CfD) support and have a price ceiling of €125 ($138)/MWh.
Appealing to developers to participate in the auction, the minister said: “Remember, everything is prepared. … The environmental impact assessment is prepared (...) as is the grid connection.”
After complaints from the wind industry, Lithuania had already changed the original format of the second offshore wind auction, scrapping negative bidding in the form of a 'development fee' as still seen in a first 700MW tender, and introducing CfDs.
Lithuania’s National Energy Regulatory Council (NERC), early last year, launched the second tender for the first time, stressing the planned wind farm will enhance "national security" as the Baltic state is weaning itself off Russian energy imports. The price ceiling then was set at €107.18/MWh, but after only Ignitis put in a bid, the government postponed the auction, blaming a lack of demand and geopolitical tensions.
The CfD scheme is a “guarantee and a stable approach for potential investors”, the minister said, praising the site as likely hosting “one of the first” offshore wind projects in the Baltic states.
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