Lithuania added 870 MW of solar in 2024, setting a new calendar-year record and surpassing the 572 MW installed in 2022 and 536 MW in 2023.
The additions raised Lithuania’s total solar capacity to more than 1.97 GW, including nearly 1.4 GW of residential solar and 583 MW of utility-scale capacity.
Juras Ulbikas, research director at the Vilnius-based Applied Research Institute for Prospective Technologies, and Vitas Maciulis, former president of the Lithuanian Solar Energy Association, told pv magazine that favorable legal, administrative, and technical conditions continue to drive solar growth.
Households can access subsidies covering 30% of installation costs for systems up to 10 kW, while small- and medium-sized enterprises are eligible for up to 25%. Energy communities led by individuals or companies can receive up to 45% in subsidies, they said.
Net metering applies to residential installations up to 500 kW. Ulbikas and Maciulis said they expect 16% of Lithuania’s electricity users will become prosumers by 2030.
While the government is considering a shift from net metering to net billing – and new commercial systems no longer qualify – Ulbikas and Maciulis noted that the authorities have pledged not to alter the current scheme for 10 years.
Ulbikas and Maciulis also said solar plants in rural areas, where land is cheaper, can supply electricity to city centers, with consumers paying only a transmission fee to the grid operator. They added that consumers can buy or lease part of a large-scale solar installation. For example, a person can purchase 5 kW from a 1,000 kW station and use the energy produced in their household. The net-metering mechanism applies to such acquisitions.
This is facilitated by an online platform from Lithuania’s largest electricity producer, Ignitis, which helps users select a power station. They explained that households will be able to contract and pay for a portion of the power station through the platform, similar to purchasing a theater ticket. They claimed that this option will significantly boost solar adoption among households and commercial smart metering systems.
Despite the “rather friendly” legal and administrative regulatory environment in Lithuania, Ulbikas and Maciulis noted that grid connections can still pose a challenge.
They noted that the grid DSO and TSO processes – document acceptance and testing operations – move too slowly, sometimes taking over a year, while utility-scale plant construction only takes a few months. They added that ongoing discussions between grids, the Ministry of Energy, and the Lithuanian Solar Energy Association have not been “fruitful.”
They explained that a newly-established scheme aims to address grid weaknesses by promoting hybrid solar and wind systems connected through a single point. This approach effectively doubles the grid's capacity to absorb power, allowing 100 kW of wind and 100 kW of solar to be connected via a single 100 kW line. It helps resolve the issue of limited grid throughput for variable renewables.
The Lithuanian government is also investing in support schemes for residential and utility-scale storage installations, which Ulbikas and Maciulis say are in “rapid development” in the country.
Evaluations by the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy predict that Lithuania’s combined solar capacity could reach 2.7 GW by the end of this year and 3.2 GW by the end of 2026. By 2028, the Lithuanian Solar Energy Association is forecasting over 4 GW of solar in the country, consisting of more than 2 GW of both residential and utility-scale projects.
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