Anne-Marie Roikjær, the Project Director for the offshore wind farm, emphasized the project’s focus on generating clean electricity while protecting the natural environment. “When we develop renewable energy projects, the environment is inevitably affected,” said Roikjær. However, she assured that Ignitis Renewables is committed to minimizing the environmental impact through a series of avoidance, mitigation, and compensation measures aimed at preserving the ecological balance.
The environmental impact assessment is not just a procedural formality. Lina Žibienė, Head of Environment and Permitting at Ignitis Renewables, explains that the assessment involves identifying and assessing the impact of the planned wind farm on everything from the air above to the seabed below, not forgetting the people and animals that call the area home. This comprehensive study is critical to ensuring that the wind farm is a good neighbor to both the environment and the local community.
Tasked with this significant study is the Coastal Research and Planning Institute, a non-profit public research institute of Klaipėda University. They will look at how the wind farm, with potentially 55 turbines up to 350 meters high, will fit into a 120-square-kilometer area of the Baltic Sea. The entire site is within a zone characterized by average annual wind speeds ranging from 9 to 10 m/s, making it ideal for wind energy production.
The journey to this point has been lengthy, beginning with an auction held by the Lithuanian government in July 2023. This process ultimately selected a partnership between Ocean Winds and Ignitis Renewables to bring this vision to life. By 2030, this wind farm is expected to be up and running, boasting an installed capacity of 700 MW and the potential to generate up to 3 TWh of electricity annually. This is enough to cover a quarter of Lithuania’s electricity needs.
