Amber Grid, the Lithuanian gas transmission system operator, has been making a concerted effort to reduce the amount of electricity it purchases, not only to reduce the cost of electricity, but also to make a significant contribution to the reduction of CO2 emissions in its day-to-day operations. The company's 1.5 megawatt (MW) solar power plants help it to achieve these goals, and this year alone they have supplied its facilities with more than EUR 45,000 worth of green electricity, saving 190 tonnes of CO2 since their commissioning.
The solar plants are expected to save around 50% of the total electricity costs incurred by the gas transmission system. In September last year, electricity production started at the 450 kilowatt (kW) solar power plant installed at the company's facility in Vilnius. Since its commissioning, 250 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity have been generated, saving around 130 tonnes of CO2. With the start of electricity production at the company's other two sites in Jauniūnai and Panevėžys at the beginning of this year (110 MWh have already been produced and around 58 tonnes of CO2 saved), the company will be able to significantly reduce its CO2 emissions and contribute to climate change mitigation goals.
"It is more important than ever to provide renewable electricity, especially when the situation in the energy sector is very tense, both because of very high prices and the political situation, which has forced us to look for independent sources of energy production. We have been preparing for this scenario consistently and deliberately for years, and we now see that the effort has been paying off. This year alone, our power plants have already generated enough renewable electricity to power 120 households for a whole year. Renewable energy sources will become increasingly more important in the long term, especially when the gas pipeline system and all its facilities consume around 3 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity per year," said Nemunas Biknius, CEO of Amber Grid.
Andrius Džiaugys, CEO of Eternia Solar LT, the company that installed the solar power plants, says that this Amber Grid’s project stands out for its comprehensiveness and innovation. The plants are equipped with high-efficiency bifacial modules and use a variety of mounting structures.
"The client set high technical and qualification requirements for this project. In an effort to use every suitable area, different types of roof and ground-mounted structures were used to support the solar modules. In addition, we mounted some of the plants on modern solar trackers, which further increase the amount of electricity generated," says Dr Andrius Džiaugys.
The solar power plant installed at the Jauniūnai gas compressor station has already produced 60 MWh of electricity and saved 30 tonnes of CO2, while the one in Piniava, in the Panevėžys region, has produced 50 MWh and saved 28 tonnes of CO2.
With the installation of the solar power plants, Amber Grid has become an energy producer and contributes to Lithuania's strategic choice to increase the share of renewable energy sources in the energy sector.
