Lithuania consumed 9.2 terawatt hours (TWh) of gas in the first half of 2024, 46% more than in the first half of 2023, when the country's gas demand was 6.3 TWh, according to data from Amber Grid, the operator of the gas transmission system in Lithuania. Lithuania's gas demand has increased due to slightly cooler winter weather compared to last year, power generation and lower gas prices on the market. The latter also led to slightly higher gas consumption in fertiliser production.
In January-June 2024, a total of 13.4 TWh of gas was transported through the Lithuanian gas transmission system, excluding transit to the Kaliningrad region. This is 28.9% less than the 18.8 TWh of gas transported to Lithuania in the same period last year. The lower gas transports were mainly due to the fact that the Balticconnector pipeline connecting Estonia and Finland was out of operation until the end of April this year. As a result, gas deliveries to Finland were organised via the LNG terminal in Finland rather than via the Lithuanian gas transmission system. In addition, the LNG terminal in Klaipėda was closed for more than a month due to the inspection.
"Work on the gas transmission infrastructure over the last six months has affected gas transmission volumes, with the Balticconector pipeline, an important interconnector for the regional market, out of service during the winter and spring, and the Klaipėda LNG terminal out of service for a scheduled maintenance inspection between May and June. However, the gas supply was successfully secured through the GIPL pipeline and the interconnector with Latvia, so that consumers were provided with an important energy resource on time," says Nemunas Biknius, CEO of Amber Grid.
The GIPL pipeline connecting Lithuania and Poland transported 1.1 TWh of gas to Europe in January-June 2024. 2.9 TWh of gas was transported to Latvia and Estonia for their needs and for storage in the Inčukalnis underground gas storage facility. The storage is currently at the same level as in the middle of last summer - 60% or 15 TWh. The activity of gas supplies to Latvia and the desire to build up gas stocks in the storage facility are confirmed by the fact that the capacity of the Lithuanian-Latvian gas pipeline interconnection was recently fully utilised.
The Klaipėda LNG terminal, the main source of gas supply to Lithuania and the other Baltic countries, accounted for 69.2% (9.2 TWh) of the total gas injected into the system in January-June 2024. Flows from Latvia accounted for 22.9% (3.1 TWh), 7.5% (1 TWh) from Poland to Lithuania, and 56 GWh of biomethane from biogas producers was injected into the system.
