Renewables suffer as focus is on nuclear

  • 2011-08-03
  • By Linas Jegelevicius

RIGHT TO LIGHT: Some say that the new law on renewable energy will actually halt the development of green energy use.

KLAIPEDA - With Western Europe’s hype for renewable energy not letting up, Lithuania is engulfed in never-ending discussions over its would-be nuclear power plant in Visaginas. In government efforts to single out the project as this century’s landmark, the deliberations over how much electricity will cost, and will the neigbors support the project, seemingly sink the prospects of development of alternative energy sources.

Some energy industry insiders suspect the state deliberately promotes one power segment over the other.
“Lithuanian authorities have never been particularly keen on developing the sector of renewable energy. With the construction of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant set, the government will do everything to boost the nuclear project while killing its rivals, the alternative sources of energy. It is in the government’s core interests now to secure customers for the nuclear plant-to-be,” Edmundas Zilinskas, president of Lithuania’s Sun Energy Association (LSEA), maintained to The Baltic Times.

To ground his bold notion, he refers to the recent Lithuanian Parliament’s adopted Renewable Energy Law, aimed at opening up possibilities for use of renewable energy resources, such as biofuels, wind power, thermo and hydro energy sources.
The bill was adopted in hopes that it will make it easier for people to use renewable energy and diversify their usage away from gas-generated electricity. This is of utmost importance to Lithuania, which is trying to reduce its 100 percent energy dependence on Russia.

After the adoption of the bill at the end of May, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite hailed it, saying “Energy independence is possible only if we use various energy sources. We have ambitious goals – by 2020 we want at least 23 percent of the energy consumed to be produced from renewable energy sources, and thus become less dependent on one energy source. This can be done only by developing modern, human and environmentally friendly renewable energy technologies.”
This, however, comes in stark contradiction of the actual policies by the government and the Parliament.
Zilinskas sharply dismisses the head of state’s jubilant estimations, slagging off the bill: “The much-anticipated law, which was meant to encourage renewable energy, will actually slow it down or kill it.”

He also disapproves of the provision regarding the policy of the electricity tariffs, which are fixed for 12 years by the bill. “Usually, in the world, they are set for 20-25 years in order to give more guarantees for investors,” he says.
Arturas Skardzius, president of Lithuania’s Renewable Resources Association (LRRA), concurs with Zilinskas, “The passed bill differs from the initial draft, which was prepared according to the analogous German law, like night and day.”
“The essential blunder of the bill is the state’s willingness to make renewable energy producers compete among themselves. Thus, speaking of wind energy, the unused quota for wind turbine power stations will be given in electricity auctions to those who will offer the lesser addition to the average market price. We will not attract investments into the renewable energy market this way,” Saulius Piksrys, director of Lithuania’s Wind Power Plant Association (LWPPA), said.

The much-criticized power plant capacity restriction, however, will not be applied to the energy companies that had been issued permits to build power plants before the bill’s adoption. “Because of the constraining law provisions, there, possibly, will be few or no one willing to invest into wind energy. Therefore, the objectives of the Renewable Energy Law may be never achieved,” the LWPPA president cautions.

To ground his conviction, he points to the difficulties of financing stemming from the provisions. “In attempting to receive a bank loan, an investor is supposed to have a clear business plan, which would show that the investment will pay off in 10 or 12 years. Now, however, an energy producer, forced to participate in a competition, will not be able to tell a bank about his projected income from the activity. In other words, the investor will not be able to prove that his project will be profitable. The law predisposes to stave off possible investors in Lithuania’s renewable energy market,” Piksrys emphasizes.
He goes on further criticizing the government’s policies, asserting that it prioritizes only the construction of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant. “It is obvious the government promotes it by all means. It does so not defending the consumer interests, but guaranteeing the consumer market for the planned nuclear plant,” Piksrys maintains.

Zilinskas says that, besides the drawbacks of the bill, “substantial bureaucratic hurdles” are to impede the faster expansion of alternative energy sources in the country. “One should take into consideration the fact of how long project tuning takes in Lithuania, as well as the lengthy procedures of preparation of detailed plans for land, etc. In comparison, if there is a project in Germany, a German wind power station is connected to the grid within two days, while it takes up to six months in Lithuania,” Zilinskas said.

Lithuania’s energy minister, Arvydas Sekmokas, flirting with proponents of renewable energy in the country, acknowledges the government’s preference for nuclear power. “In terms of the use of renewable energy sources, Lithuania outstrips the majority of EU countries, also the United States. The situation in the field is quite good,” Sekmokas boasted in a meeting with Vilnius University’s academic community. “However, we cannot orientate ourselves only to this way of energy. There are several major problems in regards to renewables, including the major problem: instability of the renewable energy resources. Therefore, the development of nuclear power remains one of the top priorities not only in Lithuania but also in the world.”

The minister’s highly optimistic estimations over “outstripping the majority of EU countries” in using renewable energy sources are more than dubious, as the EU official data assert that Lithuania satisfies its energy demands from renewable resources by only 15.3 percent, which is well below that in Latvia (29.9 percent), Austria (28.5 percent), and Portugal (23.2 percent). Sweden is the absolute leader in the ranking at 44.4 percent of its energy coming from renewable resources.
With electricity tariffs inevitably going up, even having a new nuclear power plant, and with the insignificant scope of renewable energy resources, ordinary customers are scrambling to find more cost-effective ways of heating their homes.

One of the trendiest alternatives is solar energy. Contrary to popular belief that Lithuania is a sun-lacking country, Darius Stankevicius, vice-president of Lithuania’s Sun Energy Producer Association (LSEPA), says that roughly 1,000 kW/m2 of solar energy reaches the Lithuanian surface a year. “It is nearly as much as in southern Germany, and even more than in Sweden – the countries where use of solar energy is extremely popular,” Stankevicius says.
He says the number of compatriots interested in the possibilities of solar energy is increasing every day. “I am particularly glad that this happens, not because of a conceit against neighbors, which is common among Lithuanians, but because of the real benefit the alternative energy sources produce,” Stankevicius says.

In Lithuania, he relates, most often, two kinds of solar energy collectors are used – flat plate solar collectors and vacuum ones. “With the abundance of solar collectors in the market, I would opt for vacuum solar collectors. Upon sunny weather conditions, effectiveness of both types is similar. However, in more chilly weather, the benefits of vacuum solar collectors show up,” the LSEPA president says. According to him, in a warm season, the available vacuum solar collectors can fully satisfy water-heating needs of a three-member family, producing roughly 200 liters of hot water a day.

The Norkunai, a family in Utena district, was one of the first to install vacuum solar collectors in its homestead. “We were in search of an alternative heating source. Our pursuit has been triggered by climbing electricity prices,” Vilius Norkunas said to a local newspaper. He, however, acknowledges that his family has not yet gained most savings from the purchase, as there were not many lengthy periods of sunny days yet.

“However, we are definitely happy to have installed the energy-saving system at home. Our neighbors, who would poke jokes at the facility at first, started getting interested in the solar collector as well. It feels good to know that we do not pollute the environment. Most importantly, the collector gives a whole lot of convenience and freedom, as you do not have to think about getting firewood,” the Utena dweller says.

He maintains the produced energy suffices to heat up not only water to boiling temperature at home, but also is enough to warm up the floor of the house, and the water in the small pool near it. The man did not elaborate on the price of the solar energy collector, stressing that “the investment will pay off in 5 or 7 years.”

In order to meet the EU objectives in renewable energy use by 2020, Lithuania has to increase its alternative energy production by 8 percent in nine years, from 15 to 23 percent. Renewable energy market insiders, however, note that relatively high initial investments and no available compensation, like in the case of connecting to central heating systems when certain connection-in bonuses are applied, hamper the faster use of alternative energy sources. For those who live in apartment blocks, disconnecting from the centralized systems is hardly possible because of the intricate and customer-hostile regulations.

An apartment block’s inhabitants in Panevezys were the first in the country to cut off the pipes of the centralized heating service and to install solar thermal panels. That tenacity has already produced the expected results, cutting heating bills in half. The solar energy is partly used for heating water in the block as well.

Vilnius-based JSC Ideatherm installed the innovative heating and hot-water providing systems in the Panevezys apartment block. “Generally speaking, Lithuanians are still very conservative when it comes to choosing alternative heating options. The Panevezys inhabitants have successfully taken advantage of the apartment blocks’ renovation program ‘Jessica.’ For them, the innovation cost less, while, for socially supported inhabitants, it did not cost anything, as the program covers the costs. Seeing the Panevezys example, other apartment block inhabitants in other municipalities are to follow the example,” Aldona Jancaitiene, Ideatherm manager, said.

She maintained to The Baltic Times that the enquiry numbers on the innovative energy sources have increased three-fold in one year, as the actual number of orders of solar thermal collectors has gone up twice. “The interest is here and it is growing, despite the little encouragement by the authorities. For example, in Germany, local governments make up the costs of solar collectors, as well as of their installation. Lithuanians can just dream of these encouragements, as the government supports the nuclear energy project most,” Jancaitiene suggested.
She, however, notes that, in recent years, people became much more energy-saving savvy and ready to invest into upgrading their heating systems or installing alternative ones. “This has been influenced by the crisis and the higher gas prices,” she says.

Liudas Getautas, director of Naujos idejos, a business group of alternative heating, says that not only solar energy collectors, but also geothermal collectors are slowly getting more interest of Lithuanians.
“Though generally they are used rarely in the country, especially farmers show more and more interest in them. For a 150-square meter house, the price of the geothermal heating system starts at 35,000 litas (10,100 euros) without VAT. Most developed countries promote the use of the alternative energy source, however, the process, though picking up in pace, is still sluggish, particularly after the crisis,” Getautas said to The Baltic Times.

Naujos idejos’ turnover reached 17 million litas in 2007, but dropped to 3.5 million litas in 2010.