On 12 October 2023, the National Energy Regulatory Council (VERT) officially announced that a consortium consisting of Ignitis Renewables and Ocean Winds had won the first 700 MW offshore wind auction.
The project will be developed in the Baltic Sea, approximately 30 km from the coast, and aims to start generating electricity by 2030. This is the first commercial offshore wind project in the Baltic States to move from the planning to the implementation phase. Lithuania plans to reach a total offshore wind capacity of 4.5 GW by 2050.

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Source: OffshoreWIND.biz, 12.10.2023.

By September 2024, six offshore wind auctions had been held in Estonia. Ignitis Renewables won the first two – Liivi 2 (114.9 km², 1,400 MW) and Liivi 1 (77.7 km², 900 MW). The Saare 2.1 (163.8 km², 1,560 MW) and Saare 2.2 (88.5 km², 840 MW) auctions were won by the Norwegian company Deep Wind Offshore.

Two auctions – Saare 1 (88 km²) and Saare 3 (20.1 km²) – ended unsuccessfully as no bids were submitted. This is explained by unclear support mechanisms and low commercial attractiveness.
In total, the four projects awarded represent more than 4.7 GW of potential capacity, marking a significant step forward in the development of offshore wind in Estonia, but the failures confirm that both regulatory clarity and economic viability are critical for investors.

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Source: Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA), compiled information

Differences in the transposition of renewables acceleration areas in the Baltic States create unequal conditions

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The Baltic States demonstrate significant differences in the implementation of the RED III, particularly with regard to the definition of areas for renewables acceleration areas and the establishment of a single contact point. Estonia has already introduced a digital licensing model and operates a single “building rights license” (superficies licence) mechanism that integrates several permit procedures into a single stage. In Latvia and Lithuania, however, such mechanisms have not yet been fully defined or implemented. These structural differences affect the investment climate and legal certainty. Developers operating in several countries have to adapt to very different requirements, which increases costs, the need for legal advice, and delays the start of projects. Furthermore, this fragmentation runs counter to the objective of RED III to harmonize procedures and promote the development of cross-border projects. The quality of transposition thus becomes a factor in regional competitiveness.

Latvia’s maritime spatial planning document for 2030 defines five priority research areas for offshore wind farms covering 1,648.76 km² (~6% of the country’s maritime territory). However, these areas have not been officially granted the status of renewables acceleration areas, as required by the Renewable Energy Directive (RED III). As a result, developers have access to geospatial areas. Still, these do not yet provide for accelerated permit procedures or environmental impact assessment facilitations, as required for in RED III within the framework of renewables acceleration areas.

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See Maritime Spatial Plan 2030; Interim Assessment of the Maritime Spatial Plan 2030 2019-2030)

Implementation of a new project entitled “The Life Cycle of Offshore Wind Farms in Legal Regulation: The Case of Latvia” has begun

The Institute of Legal Sciences at the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia has launched the project “Life-cycle of an offshore wind farm in the legal framework: the case of Latvia” (No. LU-BA-ZG-2024/1-0024). Continue reading “NEW PROJECT STARTED”

Me and my colleague, we are pleased to announce that you are welcome to share your research in the special issue of “Sustainability” for open-access publishing.

The work in the project “Innovation of the waste-to-energy concept for the low-carbon economy: Development of novel carbon capture technology for the thermochemical processing of municipal solid waste (CCSW – Carbon Capture and Storage from Waste)” is being initiated.

The work in the project “Formula of peat-free soil conditioner with controlled-release fertilization effect applicable for soil remediation and quality improvement of agricultural production” has been successfully completed.

It is time for new challenges!