'This will generate more interest' | Lithuania scraps negative bidding from offshore wind tender

The wind sector is more upbeat about Lithuania’s second 700MW offshore wind tender after the government abstained from using a negative bidding component again.

A first tender also for 700MW had been won provisionally by the Engie-EDPR tie up Ocean Winds with their Lithuanian partner Ignitis Group after the consortium had pledged to pay a €20m ($22m) ‘development fee’ for a site at some 30–36km from Lithuania’s coast.

WindEurope CEO Giles Dickson said that while it was good to see Lithuania “taking its first steps on offshore” which will help reduce energy imports “this [first] tender could have been structured better.”

The country’s energy regulator (NERC) for the second 700MW tender has abandoned the negative bidding component disguised as development fee and instead opts for a contract for difference (CfD) scheme, where developers can hand in bids with a minimum price of €64.31/MWh and a maximum price of €107.18/MWh.

“Negative bidding is not the way forward. It’s good that the next auction in September uses CfDs. This will generate more interest from other offshore wind developers,” Dickson said.

Finance for 'largest offshore wind farm in Baltic'

Offshore wind is increasingly taking off in the Baltic Sea, and now also in its more eastern and northern parts. Especially Poland has advanced multi-gigawatt plans, but big developers such as OX2, Orsted or Vattenfall are also queuing up to get first final government permits for a huge expansion wave in Sweden, while some interest is also geared towards the Baltic States.

“Obtaining a preliminary credit decision from the European Investment Bank is a significant step for financing the construction of the largest offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea,” said Wojciech Dąbrowski, president of the management board at PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.