Lithuania’s Ministry of Energy has proposed a new date for the second offshore wind auction to award a 700 MW project in the Baltic Sea, following a pause of the initial process in April due to a lack of qualified bids.

At the start of this year, Lithuania’s National Energy Regulatory Council (NERC) launched the country’s second offshore wind tender, seeking a developer of a 700 MW offshore wind farm. However, in April, the country decided to discontinue it after receiving just one bid.

Now, Lithuania’s Ministry of Energy announced plans to re-launch the tender on 18 November 2024. The list of qualified bidders is expected to be published on 15 April next year.

The winner of the tender for developing a 700 MW offshore wind farm is planned to be revealed in June 2025.

Lithuania plans to have two offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 1.4 GW. Both wind farms would provide about half of the country’s current electricity demand, according to the ministry.

The Lithuanian government held the auction, the country’s first for an offshore wind project, last year. In July 2023, the government provisionally selected the joint venture between Ocean Winds and Ignitis Renewables. Three months later, it officially confirmed the joint venture as the developer of Lithuania’s first offshore wind farm.

In March 2024, Fugro deployed one of its floating LiDAR buoys in the maritime area of the country’s future offshore wind farm to gather wind and meteorological measurements in the Baltic Sea.