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European electricity demand will increase by 60% by 2030, but insufficient network development is hindering the integration of wind and other renewable resources. The European Commission’s new EU budget for 2028-2034 allocates 67 billion EUR from the European Competitiveness Fund and around 30 billion EUR from the Connecting Europe Facility for network modernization. The European Grids Package, expected in the fall, will include measures for faster permitting, smarter network planning, financing solutions, and wider use of flexibility technologies – storage, demand management, and hybrid projects.

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Source: WindEurope, 30.07.2025.

The Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) has announced that the licensing process for the Saare 7 offshore wind farm in the Western Baltic Sea near Saaremaa Island has been suspended. The decision was made after an auction held on June 10-12, 2025, in which neither of the two bidders, Sunly Wind OÜ and Utilitas Wind OÜ, met the qualification requirements. Continue reading “Estonia suspends licensing process for Saare 7 offshore wind farm”

On June 25, 2025, the Seimas adopted a package of five laws, making Lithuania one of the first EU countries to transpose the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III) in order to accelerate the development of renewable energy, simplify regulations, and reduce the administrative burden. This RED III transposition package sets out clearer and more favorable development conditions for renewable energy projects, including offshore wind farms, their connections, and energy storage, and grants them special public interest status. The state will establish fast-track areas for renewable energy development (renewables acceleration areas) with mapping by February 21, 2026, and the permit granting process for offshore projects must not exceed 36 months. This will facilitate the coordination of grid connections and construction (the requirements of the Electricity and Construction Laws have been harmonized so that in many cases a technical proposal and working design are sufficient), allowing offshore wind projects to move forward more quickly and add energy storage to them.

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Source: Energetikos ministerija (Republic of Lithunia), 25.06.2025.

The ORLEN Group, in cooperation with Northland Power, has begun installing Europe’s largest offshore wind turbines in Polish waters in the Baltic Sea. The first of 76 turbines with a capacity of 15 MW has already been installed, marking a new phase in Poland’s energy transition. The Baltic Power project will be able to meet up to 3% of the country’s electricity demand when it becomes operational in 2026. Continue reading “First turbine installed at Baltic Power offshore wind farm in Poland”

Latvia is preparing amendments to its Maritime Spatial Plan, in which one of the main topics is offshore wind energy. The amendments emphasize the possibility of multifunctional use of the sea, allowing several economic activities to be combined in one area, such as offshore wind farms and aquaculture.

It is planned to assess the interaction between the sea and the coast, spatially define blue-green infrastructure elements, and map ecosystem services.

Data collection and preparation of an environmental review are planned for 2025.

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Source: Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development (Republic of Latvia), 18.06.2025.

Participation in WindEurope 2025 in Denmark, Copenhagen

Under the project “Life-cycle of an offshore wind farm in the legal framework: the case of Latvia”, participation took place in the WindEurope Annual Event from April 8-10, 2025, in Copenhagen, Denmark. A poster presentation was given with a recorded oral report entitled “State-of-the-art of the legislative framework for the development of offshore wind farms in the Baltic States and Poland.” Continue reading “Participation in WindEurope 2025 conference”

Participation in the 9^th Annual Energy Transition Conference 2025 in Finland

Under the project “Life-cycle of an offshore wind farm in the legal framework: the case of Latvia”, participation took place in the 9^th annual Energy Transitions Conference 2025 “(Em)Powering the Future: Navigating the New Frontiers of Energy Law,” organized by the School of Law of the University of Eastern Finland on February 13-14, 2025, in Joensuu, Finland. Continue reading “Participation in conference in Finland”

On February 11, 2025, the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers approved the ELWIND offshore wind farm study area on the western coast of Latvia, covering an area of 200 km², moving it approximately 7 km further out to sea.

The decision was made in response to a citizens’ initiative and an environmental risk assessment, thus confirming the importance of public participation in the development of the project.

ELWIND is a joint project between Latvia and Estonia with a planned capacity of up to 2 GW and a target date for commissioning by 2035. It is considered a potential example of a cross-border renewable energy joint project as provided for in Article 9 of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III).

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Source: Ministry of Economics (Republic of Latvia), 18.02.2025.

Although Latvia has a maritime spatial planning document with five priority study areas (~1648 km²), there is no specific offshore wind law yet. The draft law ‘On offshore wind park in Latvian offshore waters and the fourth Latvia-Estonia interconnection’ which was intended to regulate the planned offshore wind farm ELWIND on the Latvian side has not yet been adopted. Currently, the regulations originally developed for offshore mining are applied to offshore wind projects.

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See Marine Environment Protection and Management Law, Construction Regulations for Structures in the Internal Waters, Territorial Waters and Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Latvia (Regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 631, 14.10.2014.)