Lithuania has achieved another milestone in renewable power generation with the launch of a remote solar energy consumer model. The ‘Solar Community’ project from Sun Investment Group provides an opportunity to buy or rent a remote solar panel via an online platform.
Being able to purchase a share of renewable power produced in remote solar parks means people living in one part of the country can buy and consume solar energy generated geographically elsewhere. The buyer calculates how much energy a household uses and then buys a remote solar share accordingly. Capacities range from 1kW to 10kW, with the electricity produced fed into the grid. New opportunities came available for residents of apartments, in particular, as the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy introduced a new law to install solar plants on 1st of October 2019..
Managing Partner and Chief Business Development Officer of Sun Investment Group, Andrius Terskovas explains the concept, how it supports the clean energy transition and benefits consumers:
“The world is eager to contribute to clean energy generation. But eagerness is not enough — we have to act quickly and come up with more efficient solutions. The Lithuanian market was suitable to start our project. Recently Lithuania in pursuit of the EU energy plans passed amendments stating that everyone had the right to generate and use renewable energy sources from remote solar power plants.”
The Solar Community will not only help Lithuania move towards climate neutrality, but is also a practical way for citizens to save money, he adds:
“An average Lithuanian household needs a 2-3 kW power solar panel. So within a year, a household would approximately save 190 euros, around 930 trees, and reduce CO2 emission by 37 tons.”
According to Mr Terskovas , companies are discouraged from building solar panels on their property as it is expensive and takes a long time to get permissions, plus there has been a shortage of solar energy auction quotas. Until now, in Lithuania, only a few companies and individual users had enough resources to build solar panels, but the new platform would open the doors for people living in shared premises and for other, smaller businesses.
Household owners and companies buying into the remote solar panels can also apply for financial compensation. The Lithuanian Energy Ministry has recently released a support scheme which allows consumers to apply for a one-time compensation of 323 EUR per installed kW.
In April last year, the European Commission formally approved Lithuania’s auction scheme for production of electricity from renewable energy. Granted a budget of €385M, the scheme is open to technologies including solar, wind and hydropower, with three auctions scheduled for 2020-2022. In further progress towards national transition targets, Lithuania also received acceptance in June 2019 of its request to join the International Energy Agency (IEA).
Founded in 2011, Sun Investment Group (SIG) is an investment management and development company focused on solar energy assets within investment-grade markets. It has extensive experience in developing solar power projects across Central Europe and the Baltic region, with 158 separate projects delivering a total of 131 MW capacity, plus over 500MW of projects currently in an advanced phase of development.
Further Reading:
- The ‘Solar Community‘.
- More on Sun Investment Group.
- Lithuania’s auction schedule for renewables.
- Lithuania’s Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan.
- The Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Lithuania.
- Lithuania joins the IEA.
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