Molecules of green gas produced in Lithuania from renewable resources are already circulating in the country's gas transmission network. This is the first time that green gas produced in Lithuania has been mixed with natural gas in the transmission system. The biomethane is fed into the transmission network from the newly opened Tube green biomethane plant in Pasvalys district, whose facilities have been connected to the gas transmission network as part of a joint project between Amber Grid and Tube green. The plant is expected to feed around 100,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of biomethane into the transmission system each year. This is equivalent to up to 1% of Lithuania's total gas demand.
"The development of biomethane as a new energy activity will contribute to reducing the environmental impact of energy and transport. We are pleased with the high level of interest and have no doubt that Lithuania will see the growth of a relatively new green energy business. For us, the new task of connecting the biomethane plant to the gas transmission system has been completed quickly and we have learnt new things. The first biomethane plant, which is already in operation today, is an example of good partnership, quality project management and sustainable business," says Nemunas Biknius, CEO of Amber Grid.
Over the past year, about 20 companies have applied for the opportunity to supply biomethane to Amber Grid's network and received preliminary conditions for connection to the transmission network. Some of them have already signed connection agreements. A significant number of the companies that have applied are planning to connect to the transmission grid in 2024-2025. "In order to make the conditions more flexible for the companies, Amber Grid also offers a standard biomethane connection agreement in which the biomethane producer undertakes to independently build a section of the long-distance pipeline to be connected to the transmission system by the operator. To date, two customers have signed such connection agreements with Amber Grid. It is estimated that if all the projects planned to be connected to the transmission system were to come to fruition, the grid would be able to receive around 2 TWh of biomethane per year. In the long term, Lithuania's biomethane production could increase to as much as 2.5 TWh/year.
To support the development of green gas, Amber Grid also operates a green gas origin guarantee scheme. This ensures the traceability of green gas and provides consumers with certainty about the origin of the gas. This increases the opportunities for producers to realise biomethane at prices that reflect the sustainability value of the gas and to develop new green gas production capacity under market conditions. The start of biomethane production in Lithuania opens up opportunities for domestic use of green gas or export to other EU countries through the existing system of guarantees of origin. In the near future, Amber Grid will provide its customers with an automated GO management tool that will allow them to conveniently conduct GO transactions.
Biomethane produced from food or agricultural waste is part of the circular economy and is considered one of the most advanced forms of renewable energy and is being actively developed in many European countries.
