Battery Storage Boom in Lithuania: Capacity Rises to Almost 1,200 MW – Ignitis and Emsys VPP Expand Virtual Power Plant for Balancing Power

Vilnius/Oldenburg – Lithuania’s battery storage market is growing rapidly: installed capacity rose from around 700 MW at the end of June to nearly 1,200 MW in early October 2026. Lithuanian energy company Ignitis and Germany’s Emsys VPP are expanding their cooperation so that battery storage assets can also be marketed for balancing power in future.

The Baltic states launched a joint balancing market in February 2025 and connected their power grids to the Continental European synchronous area. Transmission system operators (TSOs) have been able to meet their needs so far, but they continue to rely on a small number of large assets and on their own reserves. The rapid expansion of battery storage offers an opportunity to broaden the supply of flexible capacity and strengthen competition.

Lithuania Reaches 1,195 MW of Battery Storage Capacity – Further Expansion Planned

According to Lithuanian TSO Litgrid, installed battery storage power totalled 1,195 MW in early October 2026, with an energy storage capacity of 2,261 MWh. This is an increase in power of around 70 percent compared with the end of June.

Expansion is set to continue: Litgrid expects up to 20 additional storage projects to be connected to the transmission grid by the end of 2026. If all projects are realised, installed power could rise to more than 2 GW and energy storage capacity to more than 4 GWh. The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy is pursuing a more cautious expansion target, but the 1.5 GW of storage power originally targeted for 2028 is still to be exceeded by the end of 2026. Growing storage power also increases the potential to balance short-term fluctuations between power generation and consumption.

Ignitis and Emsys VPP Expand Virtual Power Plant with Balancing Power Functions

Since 2024, Ignitis has used Emsys VPP’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP) for the direct marketing of a generation portfolio of around 650 MW and for producing wind and solar power forecasts. Battery storage assets are already traded on the intraday market.

With the expansion, the VPP is to be able to pool and control battery storage assets for automatic and manual frequency restoration reserves (aFRR and mFRR) in future. In addition to short-term power trading, the assets are to gain further marketing options in the Baltic balancing market.

Participation in the balancing market requires the technical connection and prequalification of the battery storage assets, as well as their integration into the control system of Lithuanian TSO Litgrid.

In future, the solution could be extended to other flexible assets such as wind and solar power plants. The project is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as part of the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme (RES Programme) of the German Energy Solutions Initiative. The programme is implemented with the support of the German Energy Agency (dena).

Baltic Balancing Market: Lithuania Bears 61 Percent of Procurement Costs

The joint Baltic balancing market began operations on February 5, 2025, four days before the power grids of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were synchronised with the Continental European synchronous area. TSOs procure capacity there for both aFRR and mFRR reserve types, among other products.

According to the Baltic TSOs, the costs of reserving aFRR and mFRR capacity totalled EUR 108.6 million from October 2025 to June 2026. Of this, EUR 66.6 million, or around 61 percent, was attributable to Lithuania. The costs of balancing energy actually activated are not included.

According to a recent market report by the three Baltic TSOs, Litgrid, AST and Elering, competition in the joint balancing market has improved since its launch in February 2025. At the same time, prices have fallen compared with the initial phase. However, the market continues to be characterised by a small number of large assets and relies on TSO reserves. Market concentration is particularly high for positive manual frequency restoration reserves.

The rapid expansion of battery storage could change this market structure, as the assets are suited to frequency control owing to their fast response times and can provide additional capacity. The expansion of the Ignitis and Emsys VPP Virtual Power Plant is in line with this trend.

Whether storage expansion will strengthen competition in the Baltic balancing market and reduce procurement costs depends on how many assets are prequalified for balancing power and subsequently submit competitive bids.

Source: IWR Online, 21 Oct 2026