Natural gas consumption in Lithuania has increased over the year 2024. Compared to 2023, Lithuania's gas demand increased by almost 14% to 17 terawatt hours (TWh), or 2 TWh more than last year. Gas consumption grew due to last year's colder winter weather and lower gas prices on the market. The latter reason has led to higher gas consumption in electricity and fertiliser production.
“Natural gas continues to be a vital resource for the stability of the country's energy system and industry. Last year's price cuts led to an increase in gas consumption. As the Baltic countries will soon meet their electricity system synchronisation targets, and as local green electricity generation grows, reliable gas capacity is increasingly important” said Nemunas Biknius, CEO of Amber Grid.
In 2024, a total of 29.2 TWh of gas was transported through the Lithuanian gas transmission system, excluding transit to the Kaliningrad region. This is 21.7% less than at the same time last year, when 37.3 TWh of gas was supplied to Lithuania. The interconnector transported 9.7 TWh of gas via Latvia to the Baltic countries and Finland, and 2.5 TWh of gas towards Poland. The reason for the lower gas transmission is that the Balticconnector pipeline linking Estonia and Finland was not operational at the beginning of 2024 until the end of April. As a result, part of Finland's gas needs, which were normally met by flows through Lithuania, were supplied through the LNG terminal in Finland. In addition, the LNG terminal in Klaipėda was closed for more than a month due to the inspection.
“We assessed the information about the potential for international gas flows to decline in 2024 as early as 2023, when the regional plans for gas transmission system repairs were approved. The unplanned non-operation of the Balticconnector pipeline had a significant impact on the results. Nevertheless, we see no reason why international flows should continue to decline. Given the less intensive repair programme for 2025, we believe that international flows may increase,” says N. Biknius.
Last year, gas imports from Latvia reached an all-time high of 4.2 TWh as a result of growing gas consumption and infrastructure constraints. This is 66.7% more than at the same time last year, when imports through the Kiemėnai entry point amounted to just under 2.5 TWh.
The Klaipėda LNG terminal, the main source of gas supply to Lithuania and the other Baltic countries, accounted for 81% (23.9 TWh) of the total gas transported into the system in 2024. Flows from Latvia accounted for 14% (4.2 TWh), flows from Poland to Lithuania for 5% (1.5 TWh), and 130 GWh of biomethane was injected into the system from biogas producers.
In 2022, when Lithuania stopped importing Russian gas, only gas destined for Kaliningrad is transported via the Lithuania-Belarus interconnector. Gas transit to the Kaliningrad region amounted to 26.12 TWh in 2024 (23.9 TWh in 2023).
