About Curonian Nord

Besides attracting private investors to Lithuania, creating new jobs, issuing additional orders to local businesses, the offshore development project will also bring benefits to coastal communities. When our offshore wind farm becomes operational, we will provide the government with a pre-agreed fee for the generation of electricity. These funds will then go to improving the life and economy of Lithuania’s coastal communities. In this way, we’ll be able to make a positive impact on the future of the areas around our windfarm.

Curonian Nord is a huge step towards Lithuania securing energy independence. This project will significantly increase local electricity generation from renewable energy sources, making the country less dependent on electricity imports. Lithuania is implementing its National Energy Independence Strategy and has set itself the ambitious target of covering 100% of the country’s electricity needs using renewable energy sources. It is estimated that offshore wind will comprise the largest share of renewable energy sources.

To ensure the right balance between nature conservation and clean electricity production is maintained, we’ll be strictly complying with the best international practices. We will be consulting with Lithuanian and international experts throughout all development stages of the project to minimise any impact on the entire ecosystem of the Baltic Sea.

Ignitis Renewables and its partner Ocean Winds own 51% and 49% of the project respectively and will develop the project together.

The offshore wind farm should start generating electricity in 2030.

There will be up to 55 wind turbines with a maximum height of up to 350 metres.

It is estimated that the 700-megawatt wind farm located in the Baltic Sea could generate around 3 terawatt-hours of green electricity per year, which would cover a quarter of Lithuania’s current electricity demand.

A number of factors were taken into consideration when determining the location for the windfarm. These included fishing, navigation, military, port and marina activities, environmental issues, areas for dredging and sand beach nourishment, coastal nourishment and engineering infrastructure. Based on all of the information currently available, the capacity and the location of the wind farm, its distance from the shore, as well as the sea depth are all suitable for developing offshore capacities. Moreover, they correspond to the scope and conditions of other successful offshore wind farm projects in Europe.

The maritime area in the Baltic Sea designated for the first offshore wind farm is approximately 120 square kilometres. It is at least 37 km away from the shore and approximately 50 km away from the Port of Klaipėda.

Offshore wind turbines are more efficient as they are able to harness stronger winds at sea. Each installed megawatt of an offshore wind farm produces up to twice as much electricity as that of an onshore wind farm and about three times more than solar power plants of the same capacity.