Lithuania
Country: Lithuania
Document type: National Guidelines
Title: Guidelines for the Development of Hydrogen in Lithuania for 2024-2050
Approved: April 2024
In 2030, renewables-based hydrogen production is targeted at 129,000 tons requiring 1.3 GW of electrolyser capacity. Main anticipated demand profiles in 2030 includes:
- Feedstock: ammonia production – 82,000 tons, oil refining – 5,000 tons
- Fuel: heavy duty and other transport – 8,000 tons
- Export potential (including e-fuels): 33,000 tons
By 2030, the Guidelines note that 41% of ammonia production for fertilizer use could be based on renewables-based hydrogen, and that it is planned to install at least 10 hydrogen refuelling stations across five Lithuanian cities.
In 2050, renewables-based hydrogen production is targeted at 732,000 tons requiring 8.5 GW of electrolyser capacity. Main anticipated demand profiles in 2050 includes:
- Feedstock: ammonia production – 472,000 tons, oil refining – 141,000 tons
- Fuel: heavy duty transport – 51,000 tons, electricity generation – 17,000 tons
- Export potential (including e-fuels): 43,000 tons
The Guidelines note one of the main projects for the transportation of hydrogen is a hydrogen gas pipeline from Finland to Germany, which would pass through Lithuania and provide an opportunity to export hydrogen or import it from other EU countries.
The Guidelines note that blending of hydrogen in the natural gas network is intended as a transitional measure to stimulate the emergence of a renewables-based hydrogen market, with blending likely to be limited to 10%.
The Guidelines note that the rapid development of electricity generation capacity from renewable energy sources after 2030 would boost the wider use of renewables-based hydrogen: not only would the demand for hydrogen as a fuel and raw material in the industrial sector increase markedly, the transport sector would see a major use of renewables-based hydrogen and its derivatives in replacing fossil fuels in some modes of transport with more complex electrification, and wider applications in air and maritime transport.
The Guidelines note that two regions in Lithuania would be the main hydrogen production centres – the North-Western Valley region (~66% of total production) and the Central Valley region (~33% of total production).
Following approval of the Guidelines, in 2023, the Vilnius City Council approved plans to purchase 16 hydrogen-powered buses to replace diesel-powered buses, with the waste heat generated in the hydrogen production process to be supplied to the centralised heating system of Vilnius.
In November 2024, in a joint release, the EC, Spain, Lithuania and Austria announced that the three Member States will participate in the ‘Auctions-as-a-Service’ scheme as part of the second European Hydrogen Bank auction. In addition to the €1.2 billion in EU funding from the Innovation Fund, the three EU Member States will deploy over €700 million in national funds to support renewable hydrogen production projects located in their countries, bringing the funding mobilised by the ‘IF24′ renewable hydrogen auction to around €2 billion. Lithuania is dedicating around €36 million for the Auctions-as-a-Service scheme from its Modernisation Fund budget. The joint release notes that Lithuania has already allocated €50 million from Modernisation Fund revenues towards renewable hydrogen production since 2023.
Reviewed: November 2024.