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Lithuania halts solar development

The Lithuanian Government has announced it will not permit the construction of any new solar facilities, in a bid to halt the "rapid" development of the project industry. The amendments are expected to be passed on March 1.

An exception to the new amendment in Lithuania are solar facilities under 10 kW in size, which will be used for self-consumption

Flickr/Manuel Ignacio

The Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) has supported a proposal by the government to amend the country’s "Law of renewable energy", in order to limit the "too rapid" development of the solar industry. According to the amendments, the Ministry of Energy will not permit the construction of any new solar facilities.

An official statement released by Seimas explained, "This is done to support the public interest and to avoid a jump in electricity prices – which according to calculations, with the development of solar electricity industry can rise by 5 percent."

An exception to the new amendment are solar facilities under 10 kW in size, which will be used for self-consumption. Meanwhile, as of March 1, residents and businesses will have to prove that their projects are already under way and that they invested at least half of the project costs. If they cannot, authorizations for implementation of the projects will be cancelled.

Around 10,000 applications for solar energy projects worth US$175 million or 22 MW are said to currently be with the Ministry of Energy. Under the new amendments, however, they will not be accepted.

Overall, cumulative solar capacity in Lithuania is said to be sitting at just 93 MWh.

Edited by Becky Beetz.