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Annual Report on Electricity and Natural Gas Markets submitted to the European Commission​


The National Energy Regulatory Council (NERC) has prepared the Annual Report on Electricity and Natural Gas Markets of the Republic of Lithuania in compliance with the requirements of Directive 2019/944 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 concerning common rules for the internal market for electricity and amending Directive 2012/27/EU and of Directive 2009/73/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 concerning common rules for the internal market in natural gas and repealing Directive 2003/55/EC and submitted it to the European Commission.

MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN THE GAS AND ELECTRICITY SECTORS

Electricity market:

  • In 2023, the amount of electricity imported into the Lithuanian Power System decreased by 9.6% compared to 2022 and accounted for 77.9% of the country's total electricity demand (12.6 TWh) in 2023.  
  • In 2023, the country generated 5.66 TWh of electricity, imported 9.79 TWh and exported 2.87 TWh. The country's electricity consumption in 2023 was 11.83 TWh. The total installed capacity of the power plants increased to 5,259 MW in 2023, compared with 4,279 MW in 2022.
  • In 2023, the investments implemented by the electricity sector amounted to EUR 508.84 million, which is 83.5% more than in 2022. In the distribution system, investments amounted to EUR 340.07 million (a growth of 41.1%), in transmission – EUR 163.43 million (a growth of 3.8 times), in ancillary services – EUR 5.34 million (a growth of 1.4 times).  
  • The maximum hourly electricity demand (net) in Lithuania in 2023 was 2,100 MWh (a decline of 1.7% compared with 2,136 MWh in 2022), and in the distribution network it was 1,873 MWh (a decline of 0.5% compared with 1,883 MWh in 2022).
  • In 2023, NERC regulated 3,218 undertakings in the electricity sector. This includes licensed or permit-regulated activities for independent power supply and aggregation, transmission, distribution, public supply and electricity generation, as well as permits for the development of generation capacity.
  • At the end of 2023, following operators held licences issued by NERC: AB „Litgrid“ – the electricity transmission system operator, AB “Energijos skirstymo operatorius", AB “Achema", UAB “Dainavos Elektra" and AB “Akmenės cementas" – electricity distribution system operators, UAB “Ignitis" – the public electricity supplier.
  • In 2023 NERC organised comprehensive assessment of the 108 independent electricity suppliers. The assessment found that 27 undertakings complied with the requirements set out in the Law on Electricity of the Republic of Lithuania. 77 undertakings that didn't meet the requirement had their permits to carry out independent electricity supplier activities revoked (for 4 undertakings, their existing permits to carry out independent electricity supplier activities were revoked at the request of the undertakings themselves).
  • At the end of 2023, 2,643 undertakings (natural and legal persons) held permits for the generation of electricity issued by NERC (excluding prosumers) and 386 undertakings (natural and legal persons) held permits issued by NERC to develop their electricity generation capacities.
  • In 2023, NERC issued 410 permits to carry out activities in the electricity sector, of which 112 were for the generation of electricity and 298 for the development of electricity generation capacity.
  • In 2023 NERC has granted the first 7 Citizen Energy Communities statuses. Also, the first 3 Renewable Energy Communities statuses have been granted.
  • In 2023 NERC has issued the first permits for the development of electricity generation capacity for hybrid power plants (39), as well as the first permits for the development of energy storage facilities (6) and the first permits for the generation of electricity from energy storage facilities (4).

 

Natural gas market:

  • Natural gas imports in 2023 amounted to 38,175 GWh, a decline of 6.9% compared with 41, 006 GWh in 2022. In 2023, natural gas sales decrease by 31.91% year-on-year, from 35,523 GWh to 24,188 GWh.
  • In the natural gas sector, NERC regulated 63 undertakings in 2023. In the natural gas sector, transmission, distribution, storage, liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification, supply and market operator activities are licensed or regulated by permits.  
  • 56 companies held natural gas supply permits, of which 35 were operating.
  • The natural gas market of UAB GET Baltic traded 9,099,862 MWh of natural gas in 2023. Compared to 2022, the volume of natural gas traded on the natural gas market of UAB GET Baltic was 31% higher. In 2023, a total of 22,728 GWh of natural gas was sold and/or consumed on the wholesale natural gas market, which is 35.5% less than in 2022, when 35,236 GWh of natural gas was sold and/or consumed.
  • The revenues of the natural gas sector (transmission, distribution, LNG regasification, supply) in 2023 amounted to EUR 1,569 million, almost 2.7 times lower compared with EUR 4,186 million in 2022, due to the decrease in the price of natural gas product. In 2023, the revenues from the regulated activities of distribution, transmission, LNG system operators were higher than in 2022, while the revenues of supply companies were lower than in 2022. The decrease in the revenues of natural gas supply companies is attributed to the fact that the price of imported natural gas (product), purchased through bilateral transactions and on exchanges, declined in 2023.
  • The total investment in the natural gas sector in 2023 made up EUR 57.5 million, an increase of EUR 26.9 million or 87.8% compared to EUR 30.6 million in 2022.
  • After verifying that the prices for natural gas transmission services submitted by AB “Amber Grid" are reasonable and objective, do not exceed the revenue cap, and are correctly differentiated in order to avoid cross-subsidisation between groups of system users, NERC approved an average 7% increase in the prices to be charged by AB “Amber Grid" from 1 January 2025.  

 

The full translated Report will be accessible on the NERC website www.vert.lt and on the CEER website www.ceer.eu in September 2024.​

Reports of previous years are presented here (in English).

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