Nauseda invites US businesses to invest in development of offshore wind parks in Lithuania

VILNIUS – US investors could join the development of offshore wind parks in Lithuania, President Gitanas Nauseda said at a high-level event on energy security organized in New York by the Embassy of Lithuania in the United States and the Atlantic Council.

He invited US investors to get actively involved in decarbonizing the Lithuanian economy by joining an ambitious project aimed at building 1.4 GW offshore wind parks, the presidential office said in a press release on Wednesday.

“Those who trusted the Kremlin and built their national energy systems on Russian gas are today facing the reality of energy blackmail and political manipulation. The good thing is that the illusions are gone and the whole of Europe has realized that our energy future is not dependent on Russia. We see tomorrow as green, sustainable and energy secure. We are now moving forward at a rapid pace,” the press release quoted Nauseda as saying.

Lithuania is planning to hold an auction in September 2023 to select the developer of the 700 -megawatt offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea. 

The wind farm, to be located some 30 to 40 kilometers off the coast, is planned to generate around 2.5-3 terawatt hours of electricity per year, or a quarter of Lithuania's current energy demand.

The offshore wind farm project is expected to be completed in 2028.

On Wednesday, Nauseda also met with Peter L. Scher, Vice Chairman of JP Morgan Chase, to present him Lithuania’s achievements in the areas of economic resilience, financial technology, IT, science and business cooperation.

“Lithuania’s financial sector is open to new market players. We are one of the fintech industry leaders. Lithuania’s progress in digital financial services is underpinned by a robust and well-developed IT sector,” the Lithuanian president said.

JP Morgan Chase provides a wide range of financial services in the US and globally. The bank has indicated plans to develop retail digital banking services in continental Europe in the future.