When asked at the event on possible electricity prices for the next six months in Lithuania, the minister relied on gas price forecasts from US bank Goldman Sachs, according to which gas prices in Europe at the end of the first quarter will be around 90 euros / MWh.
Such a gas price could result in an electricity tariff of around 30-35 ct / kWh in Lithuania, calculated D. Kreivys.
In Lithuania, where most of the electricity is imported, electricity prices depend on the prices of the Nord Pool power exchange, which in turn remains dependent on natural gas.
However, Minister D. Kreivys also called on companies working in Lithuania to pay more attention to electricity generation, to make use of state support, so that they can become producing consumers.
“Investments can pay off in a few years. If we all become producer consumers, we can lower prices for all consumers in Lithuania, “said D. Kreivys.
He claimed that by increasing the production of electricity from renewable resources in 2024-2025. In Lithuania we will see a completely different picture. Around 50-60 per cent is expected to be produced from renewable resources at that time. Lithuania needs energy.
Currently, including all sources of production, the country produces 35 percent. energy is needed, the rest is imported.
“Prices will drop dramatically in 2-3 years and Lithuania will become a good place for foreign energy consuming investors,” said D. Kreivys.
When asked when electricity prices in Europe could become independent of gas, he said that it is not possible to give up gas at the moment, as renewable resources require balancing, but it will be possible to replace them with hydrogen by the end of the decade. .
“We will need gas to balance renewable resources until hydrogen technology is developed to the required level.” We currently do not have sufficient infrastructure to store, transport and generate electricity from hydrogen. Everything is under development, in the near future, in 3-5 years we will have those technologies. After 2030 prices, Europe’s dependence on gas will drastically decrease “, the minister predicted.
The network is “not made of rubber” and Lithuania cannot sacrifice energy security
In Lithuania, the implementation of renewable energy solutions is currently being encouraged, but both residents and businesses face problems not only due to rising installation costs, but also due to the administrative procedure.
Here, investors who signed letters of intent with goal manager Litgrid in the summer together more than doubled the planned capacity limit of 2 GW, so it is still unclear whether all of these investors will receive the expected capacity.
VERT is currently conducting a review and has already announced that some investors have withdrawn their applications from the start. However, there remains a strong possibility that even in this case the total power desired by the investors exceeds 2 GW.
In this case, VERT would propose to share these capabilities proportionally, which angers companies that signed letters of intent asap.
Both this and the question of other administrative obstacles were raised at the investor event.
“The grid isn’t rubber and you can’t connect whatever you want. When it comes to energy, grid and household security should be ensured in the first place. Capacity is split between business and manufacturing users. These are complicated calculations and I sometimes hear in the media that people complain that this is nonsense, “said D. Kreivys.
He stressed that Lithuania, which is trying to implement the transformation of electricity generation, is a European leader in this respect, and therefore needs to act more carefully than other countries.
“Lithuania is a leader and when you are the first, you have no experience, you create it yourself. You cannot go wrong while you create, because you can sacrifice security,” said the minister.
