Litgrid, the operator of the Lithuanian electricity transmission system, announces the indicators of the electricity system for 2023. Last year, electricity production in Lithuania grew by a third and was the highest since 2010, and renewable energy power plants produced a record amount of electricity – it accounted for 70 percent of the country's total production. Electricity consumption decreased by 1.2 percent during the year.
in 2023 it was a historic year for green energy in the country. For the first time, the share of electricity produced by renewable energy power plants accounted for more than two-thirds of the total electricity produced in the country.
In 2021, renewable energy power plants generated 48 percent of the country's electricity, in 2022 this share reached 60 percent, and in 2023 it accounted for 70 percent.
According to Donatas Matelionis, head of Litgrid's System Management Department, compared to the year before, in 2023 the production of electricity in wind and solar power plants increased significantly.
"As the number of renewable power plants connected to the transmission and distribution grids has increased, both wind and solar power plants have produced significantly more environmentally friendly electricity. Production in wind power plants increased by 66.8 percent, and in solar power plants - by as much as 131.5 percent. Analyzing the absolute numbers, the growth rate of wind energy is even more impressive, with wind generation increasing by more than one terawatt hour. The latter change was mainly due to the significant increase in the number of wind farms connected to the transmission grid. At the same time, the production of hydropower plants increased by a little less than a third", says D. Matelionis.
Wind power generation increased from 1.513 TWh to 2.524 TWh, solar power from 0.273 TWh to 0.633 TWh, and hydro power generation from 0.457 TWh to 0.589 TWh.
Compared to 2022, the amount of energy produced by thermal power plants increased by 12.9 percent (from 1,161 TWh to 1,311 TWh).
The total energy produced by renewable resources was 3,972 TWh per year.
The entire electricity production of Lithuania in 2023 reached 5,664 TWh, 33.3 percent more than in 2022.
"Overall, last year, the most electricity was produced in Lithuania since 2010 - the first year after the closure of the Ignalina nuclear power plant. Evaluating how much electricity Lithuania produces itself, last year the share of local production from the total consumption reached 48 percent. – this is also the highest indicator since 2010. In comparison, production provided 35 percent last year. of general consumption", comments D. Matelionis.
Electricity consumption is 1.2 percent less
In 2023, 11,056 TWh of electricity was consumed in Lithuania. This is 1.2 percent less than last year, when the figure was 11,192 TWh.
"Annual data show that electricity consumption increased slightly in the industrial sector, and decreased the most in the residential and service sectors. The decrease in consumption in the population and service sectors is caused by the increasing number of producing consumers - consumers who have installed solar power plants consume part of the energy locally and do not transfer it to the distribution and transmission networks," says D. Matelionis.
Compared to 2022, electricity consumption in the industrial sector increased by 1.3 percent - from 3.999 TWh to 4.053 TWh. Electricity consumption in agriculture remained stable at 0.248 TWh. In the transport sector, electricity consumption decreased by 5.9 percent - from 0.096 to 0.091 TWh, in the service sector it decreased by 3.7 percent - from 3.558 TWh to 3.427 TWh.
Compared to 2022, residents consumed 4.6 percent less electricity per year - from 3.289 TWh to 3.138 TWh.
Import, export changes
In 2023, 9,794 TWh of electricity was imported into Lithuania, 12.7 percent less than in 2022, and exported - 2,865 TWh or 8 percent more than in 2022.
Imports from Estonia grew by 39.3 percent (0.331 TWh), imports from Sweden decreased by 1.2 percent (4.967 TWh), and imports from Poland grew by 5.1 percent (1.161 TWh). Imports from Latvia decreased by 19.3 percent (3,290 TWh).
After the implementation of the provisions of the Law on Necessary Measures to Protect Yourself from the Threats of Unsafe Nuclear Power Plants of Third Countries, Lithuania did not conduct direct commercial transactions with Belarus either last year or the year before. From 2022 in the first half of the year, there is no electricity trade with Russia either.
The largest share of electricity exports in 2023 consisted of exports to Poland - 1,694 TWh or 10.5 percent less than in 2022. Exports to Latvia grew the most - 192.3 percent to 0.370 TWh.
