Lithuanian renewable energy congress – 7th edition

Short-duration battery energy storage systems (BESS) – typically ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours – are playing an increasingly vital role in balancing electricity grids, providing frequency response services, and capturing value from volatile energy markets.

In liberalised and fast-moving electricity markets like those emerging in the Baltics and wider Europe, speed and flexibility are becoming just as important as capacity.

This panel will explore how developers and operators are leveraging short-duration BESS to deliver fast frequency response (FFR), synthetic inertia, and market arbitrage in day-ahead and intraday trading. Speakers will share technical, regulatory, and commercial insights into revenue stacking, project economics, risk management, and how these systems integrate with renewables, interconnectors, and grid operators.With growing demand for ancillary services and a surge in battery deployments, this session will spotlight the business models making short-duration BESS financially viable and strategically valuable in the clean energy transition.

Key Discussion Points:

• How fast is fast enough?
  Performance criteria and control system tuning for primary and secondary frequency response in real-time.
• Degradation vs. profit: finding the cycling sweet spot:
  Lifecycle modelling for BESS participating in high-frequency services vs. daily arbitrage.
• Revenue stacking under uncertainty:
  How to value and prioritize different services (inertia, FCR, black start, aFRR, intraday, imbalance markets).
• Market readiness in Lithuania and the Baltics:
  TSO tenders, price signals, and participation rules, taxation – what’s working, and what needs fixing?
• Data-driven operations:
• Using AI, predictive analytics, and SCADA integration for maximising short-duration asset performance.

This panel offers a deep dive into Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) deployment across the Baltic region, with a spotlight on live and pipeline projects in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.

The discussion will focus on how storage assets are being integrated into national grids to support renewable energy growth, provide critical system services, and enhance energy independence in the context of grid desynchronisation from Russia and growing interconnectivity with the Nordics and EU.Through real-world case studies and operational insights, speakers will examine the technical, financial, and regulatory frameworks enabling storage at scale—offering practical takeaways for developers, investors, and policymakers.

Key Discussion Points:

• Lithuania’s national 200 MW/200 MWh grid reserve BESS project: goals, challenges, and lessons learned.
• How BESS supports frequency regulation, black start capability, congestion relief, and renewable smoothing.
• Approaches to BESS financing: public funding, tenders, merchant revenue, and hybrid models.
• Regulatory frameworks: grid codes, revenue stacking, and enabling ancillary markets, taxation
• Regional integration: BESS in cross-border balancing and post-2025 EU synchronous grid readiness.
• Future outlook: co-location with renewables, AI-driven optimisation, and long-duration storage pilots.

The Contracts for Difference (CfD) mechanism can play a strategic and increasingly central role in Lithuania’s renewable energy development, with energy supply exceeding energy demand on the electricity market and the lack of corporate PPAs on the market, especially if the country wants to reach its 2030 and 2050 energy goals.

This panel will explore how Contracts for Difference (CfDs) can shape Lithuania’s renewable energy landscape, enabling large-scale project development while managing investor risk and ensuring price stability.

The panel will examine potential for onshore wind or solar CfD scheme structure, auction outcomes, and how CfDs can complement other offtake models such as corporate PPAs and merchant exposure.Speakers will address how CfDs are being used in other countries to drive renewable targets, support grid integration, and align with evolving EU electricity market reforms. The discussion will also offer insights into how CfDs can support innovation, local supply chains, and cross-border project financing.

Key Discussion Points:

• De-risking Renewable Investments: 
  CfDs provide long-term revenue stability by guaranteeing a fixed “strike price” for electricity generated. If market prices fall below this level, the government compensates the developer – reducing financial risk and attracting private capital.
• Driving Cost-Competitive Renewable Deployment:
  By using competitive CfD auctions, Lithuania can ensure that new renewable capacity is added at the lowest possible cost to consumers. This mechanism can support the growth of utility-scale solar and wind and is expected to underpin future offshore wind tenders.
• Enabling Offshore Wind Development:
  The upcoming offshore wind project in the Baltic Sea is expected to use CfD-based support scheme. These will be essential for bankability, given the capital intensity and long timelines of offshore infrastructure.
• Aligning with EU State Aid Frameworks:
  CfDs align with the European Commission’s guidelines on state aid for climate and energy, making them compliant and transparent mechanisms for incentivizing renewables while maintaining market integrity.
• Enhancing Grid Planning and Market Integration:
  With predictable CfD-backed capacity, Lithuania’s grid operator (Litgrid) can better forecast system needs, while policymakers can plan for integration, curtailment management, and balancing services more effectively.
• Challenges and Considerations:
  CfDs must be well-calibrated to reflect market realities and not overcompensate. Long-term CfD contracts may require adaptation for future flexibility, such as incorporating hybrid projects or energy storage. Proper regulatory oversight is essential to ensure fair competition and public benefit.

As Lithuania rapidly scales up its renewable energy capacity—with ambitious goals to reach 100% green electricity by 2030—the focus is shifting from generation to commercialisation. Ensuring reliable, bankable offtake strategies is now critical to unlocking financing, stabilising revenue, and attracting long-term investment into wind, solar, and hybrid energy projects.

This panel will explore the evolving landscape of energy offtake in Lithuania, including the rise of corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs), the ongoing role of government-backed Contracts for Difference (CfDs), and the increasing exposure to merchant market risk.

Panellists will provide practical insights into pricing structures, risk mitigation, regulatory support, and how offtake strategies are adapting to a dynamic, interconnected Baltic energy market.

The discussion will also cover the needs of energy buyers—from industrial consumers to public procurement—and how offtake models are supporting Lithuania’s grid resilience, energy independence, and decarbonisation goals.

Key Discussion Points:

• The Rise of Corporate PPAs:
  How Lithuanian and regional companies are using direct power purchase agreements to meet sustainability goals and hedge against energy price volatility.
• Merchant Risk & Market Exposure:
  What does the move toward market-based offtake mean for investor confidence, and how can projects remain financeable in a high-risk pricing environment?
• Grid Access, Congestion & Cross-Border Trade:
  Exploring the impact of interconnectors and Lithuania’s integration with Nordic and continental European markets on PPA pricing and risk-sharing.
• Policy, Regulation & the Role of the State:
  Examining the future of government-backed offtake mechanisms, the Offtaker of Last Resort framework, and grid fee reforms under VERT and Litgrid’s oversight.
• Contracting Best Practices:
  Insights into PPA structuring, credit risk, termination clauses, and securing financing from Baltic and international banks.

Digitalisation is now a cornerstone of the energy transition, enabling smarter grids, faster asset deployment, real-time trading, and greater consumer participation. From AI-driven forecasting to blockchain-secured energy transactions, this panel explores how digital technologies are reshaping how we generate, distribute, and monetise clean energy.

As Lithuania and the broader Baltic region scale up renewables and integrate distributed assets, the need for flexible, intelligent infrastructure has never been greater. This panel will examine how energy stakeholders are using data and digital tools to enhance system resilience, unlock new revenue streams, and accelerate decarbonisation.

Key Discussion Points:

• Smart Grid Evolution & System Integration:
  How digital platforms and real-time data exchange are enabling dynamic grid balancing, congestion management, and VPP (Virtual Power Plant) operations.
• AI & Predictive Analytics in Energy Markets:
  Leveraging machine learning for forecasting generation, consumption, and prices in a volatile and decentralised energy landscape.
• Cybersecurity & Critical Infrastructure Protection:
  As digital systems grow more complex, what frameworks are being implemented to protect grids, assets, and customer data?
• Digital Twins, SCADA & Asset Optimisation:
  The role of digital modelling, remote monitoring, and cloud-based control systems in reducing downtime and maximising renewable asset efficiency.
• Blockchain, Smart Contracts & Peer-to-Peer Trading:
  Exploring the role of decentralised ledgers and automated settlement systems in the future of energy transactions and grid-edge participation.

PLEASE NOTE:

All timings are approximate. The organisers reserve the right o agenda the agenda to reflect market changes and updates and are not responsible for speakers no-show and last-minute replacements.