The first six months of this year were quite successful for the wind parks operating in Lithuania. During the winter and spring, the weather conditions in the country were favourable for the electricity production in wind parks, wind speed slowing down significantly only in June. Nevertheless, the overall result for the first half of the year is almost one-third better than that achieved last year.
According to the latest data from the Electricity exchange market Baltpool, the wind parks operating in Lithuania generated a total of 737.7 GWh of electricity during the first six months of 2019. That is almost 30 percent more than was generated during the same period in 2018. The amount of energy produced increased in both small distribution grid-connected turbines and in transmission grid-connected large wind parks.
“We regard the first half of this year as particularly successful for wind energy in Lithuania. The prevailing windy weather has allowed the power plants to achieve really good results, including an all-time record: in March, the wind parks generated as much as 174 GWh of electricity, which is up 78 percent more than during the same period last year. The relatively windy weather persisted in April and May,” said Aistis Radavičius, CEO of Lithuanian Wind Power Association.
He noted that the production of wind turbines slowed down significantly only in June. It is common for smaller amounts of electricity to be produced during the summer, as the strongest winds are characteristic of the first and last quarters of the year. In different years, meteorological conditions can determine an up to 20 percent higher or lower electricity production.
In Europe the installed capacity of the wind turbines have increased. During the first half of the year, 4.9 GW of wind power plants were installed, which is 0.4 GW more than during the same period last year. Land-based power generation grew the most in France (523 MW), and in the case of offshore turbines the greatest growth occurred in the United Kingdom (931 MW).
However, while the total power of the wind parks grew, the onshore development slowed down. In the first half of the year, 2.9 GW of onshore power plants were installed in Europe, which is 3.3 GW less than in the same period last year. These results were driven by challenges in Germany, where the number of power plants installed was the lowest since 2000. More expansion is expected in the second half of the year.
Europe installed plants generating 11.7 GW of total power in 2018, or 33% less than in 2017. But it was nonetheless a record year for wind power investments. 16.7 GW of new capacity reached Final Investment Decision.
Last year, all the power plants installed in Europe generated 362 TWh of electricity: 309 TWh from onshore and 53 TWh from offshore turbines. Wind power met 14 percent of Europe’s total electricity demand, which is up 2 percent from 2017. However, the increased percentages were partly due to a lower electricity demand. In Lithuania last year, wind power generated 1.1 TWh, accounting for about 10 percent of the country’s final electricity demand.
