Ignitis Renewables, part of Ignitis Group, has submitted a bid for the rights to develop around 700 MW of offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea as part of the second offshore wind tender in Lithuania.
Under the tender regulations, the potential developer can submit either the development fee or request support in the form of a two-way contract for difference CfD in the range between 64.31 EUR/MWh and 107.18 EUR/MWh.
Winning the tender would grant the right to use the maritime area for 41 years and a secured grid connection.
Located approximately 30 kilometres from the coast, the site for a future offshore wind farm covers an area of approximately 136 square kilometres and is expected to generate around 3 TWh of energy annually.
The winner is expected to be announced by the National Energy Regulatory Council (NERC) which is overseeing the process, by 31 May.
In case of a successful tender, Ignitis plans to start a process of selecting a partner to jointly develop the project.
The decision to participate in the second tender is driven by the change in the project implementation schedule, the company said.
As the project is set to be implemented by 2032 and not by 2030 as initially planned, it will potentially not coincide with the implementation of the first 700 MW Lithuanian offshore wind farm which is expected to be online by 2030, according to Ignitis. This would make it financially feasible to successfully implement both projects in the event of a successful tender.
As reported earlier, NERC selected the consortium of Ocean Winds and Ignitis Renewables as the winner of Lithuania’s first offshore wind tender.
Lithuania’s second offshore wind tender was originally planned to be launched in Autumn 2023, but it was pushed back to January 2024 after Lithuania’s Ministry of Energy received feedback from investors on the global renewable energy sector being affected by the current economic conditions.
The deadline for submitting bids in this tender round is 15 April.