Lithuania’s First Offshore Wind Farm Moves Forward

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February 29, 2024, by Adnan Memija

Ignitis Renewables, an international green energy company, has prepared an environmental impact assessment (EIA) programme for the first offshore wind farm in Lithuania. The EIA itself will be prepared on the basis of this programme, said the company.

“When we develop renewable energy projects, the environment is inevitably affected, but to achieve a balance between clean electricity generation and nature protection, we will take all appropriate measures to minimise the environmental impact of the offshore wind farm, and when the impact cannot be avoided, we will implement compensatory measures to improve the state of the environment,” said Anne-Marie Roikjær, Project Director for offshore wind farm.

According to Lina Žibienė, Head of Environment and Permitting at Ignitis Renewables, there are several objectives of the environmental impact assessment.

First, it is necessary to identify and assess the impact of the planned wind farm on individual environmental components, i.e. land surface and areas below, air, water, landscape, and biodiversity, with particular attention paid to protected animal, plant species, and areas, said Žibienė.

In addition, it is important to assess the impact on public health and other social aspects, according to Žibienė.

The EIA report was commissioned by Ignitis Renewables. The assessment will be carried out and the report will be complied by the Coastal Research and Planning Institute. The final decision on the environmental impact of the offshore wind farm is expected to be received by the end of 2025, said Ignitis Renewables.

The report will assess the offshore wind farm planned in the Baltic Sea, whose designated maritime area is approximately 120 square kilometres. The project area is located at least 36 kilometres away from the shore, about 60 kilometres from the Port of Klaipėda.

The depth ranges from 28 metres to 48 metres and the whole site falls within the zone of average annual wind speeds of 9–10 m/s. The potential number of wind turbines to be erected will be up to 55, with a maximum height of up to 350 metres, Ignitis Renewables said.

As a reminder, the wind speed and other measurements necessary for the implementation of the project as well as geotechnical and geophysical surveys of the seabed as well as other preparations, which will be used during the EIA process, are currently in progress.

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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.

Scheduled to begin operations by 2030, the offshore wind farm will have an installed capacity of 700 MW and is expected to generate up to 3 TWh of electricity annually, which would meet up to a quarter of Lithuania’s current electricity demand.