New wind farm connected to electricity transmission grid

Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator Litgrid has connected five wind turbines with a combined capacity of 10 MW to the electricity transmission grid in Didšiliai (Šilutė District). The total capacity of the Didšiliai wind farm will reach 21.8 MW, once the remaining wind turbines are connected to the grid by the end of the year.

“The capacity of wind farms currently connected to the electricity transmission grid totals 161.83 MW,” said CEO of Litgrid Virgilijus Poderys. “Terms for connecting more wind turbines with a capacity of 595 MW have been issued and technical projects have been harmonised. Lithuania has undertaken to integrate enough new wind turbines into the energy system before 2020 to reach a capacity of 500 MW. Given the expansion of renewable energy resources, we will be able to meet this target well before the set deadline.”

The Didšiliai wind farm is the second wind farm in the Šilutė District to be connected to the electricity transmission grid this autumn. A 39.1 MW wind farm in Čiūteliai was opened in September. As wind power developers ask to be issued with terms for connecting to the electricity transmission grid and more electricity is being generated by wind farms, efforts are being made to improve the electricity transmission grid in western Lithuania, where most of the country’s renewable energy projects are planned.

The first major wind farm with a capacity of 30 MW was connected to the grid in 2006. Lithuania currently operates 10 major wind farms, all in all 79 wind turbines are connected to the electricity transmission grid. In 2011, the wind turbines generated a total of 0.47 TWh of electricity. The country’s electricity demand was 10. 4 TWh.