Lithuanian port plans €36.6m offshore wind hub

The reconstruction of Klaipėda Port, on the Smeltė peninsula on the Baltic Sea, includes three new quays with a total of 463 metres in length and a quay-side depth of 12 metres. The quays will be able to load 40 tonnes per m².

The quays will each be built to handle, assemble and store wind turbine elements in an area allowed for the installation infrastructure comprising 21 hectares.

According to the port’s head of Communication and Marketing Džiugas Šaulys, the development will open up new economic opportunities for service centres, shipbuilding and repair.

The project was kicked off in May 2022, when the Klaipėda State Seaport Authority and Klaipėda Stevedoring Company KLASCO signed an investment agreement to plan offshore wind farms.

Since then, geological surveys have been completed, a construction permit obtained and now a contract has been signed with contractor UAB Tilsta to build the quays for a contract value of €36.6 million.

Lithuania has no operating offshore wind farms yet, but it says there are plans to have two installed in 2028, at a cost of €3 billion, to generate 1.4GW by 2030.

Airidas Daukšas, Vice Minister of Energy, was quoted as saying that one of the farms had already granted a tender, with the other tender being considered.