There are already more than 10,000 electricity prosumers in Lithuania, according to the country’s Ministry of Energy and in the first four months of this year alone, they produced more electricity than in the whole of 2019.
“The Government’s programme provides for every third household to produce its own electricity by 2030, so that would mean more than 500,000 prosumers in the country,” said Minister of Energy Dainius Kreivys. “We aim to increase local generation from renewable sources and continue to encourage residents and businesses to become prosumers. We will reduce bureaucratic barriers and create a more attractive motivation system in order to ensure the long-term goal of every third Lithuanian electricity consumer supplying their own energy.”
The total installed capacity of prosumers and remote prosumers is already 105.69 megawatts (MW) and is enough to ensure that 110 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity are generated in the country per year. The State will strive to increase the installed capacity to 1 gigawatt (GW) by 2025. Approximately 150 solar power plants with an average size of 10 kilowatts (kW) are now being installed in the country every week. The cities of Vilnius, Kaunas and Marijampolė currently have the most prosumers.
The state has already invested almost 42 million euro in the development of prosumers: from 2019 to date, approximately 36 million euro was provided in support to residents who installed solar power plants themselves and nearly 6 million euro was provided to residents who purchased power plants from solar farms.
“Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius is implementing changes to make it easier, simpler and faster to connect and become a prosumer,” added Mindaugas Keizeris, CEO of the electricity and gas distribution company Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius (ESO). “We are pleased with the growing interest among residents and businesses in installing a power plant that uses renewable energy sources – solar or wind. The entire energy sector is undergoing a significant transformation, which naturally poses significant challenges that need to be tackled flexibly. We are striving, and must be ready, to enable the development of renewable resources.”
Another164.5 million euro in EU funds are planned to be invested in expanding the number of prosumers in the country by 2027. In addition, ESO is planning on investing 230-290 million euro in the development of the distribution network by 2025. At present, both natural and legal persons can become prosumers. Solar power plants can be installed at the place of consumption (for example, on the roof), or can be installed or purchased remotely.