daily · Clean Energy
Lithuania battery storage surges 70% to 1,195 MW as Ignitis and Emsys VPP expand grid balancing
Litgrid data shows Lithuania's installed battery storage reached 1,195 MW and 2,261 MWh in early October 2026, up about 70% since June. Ignitis and Emsys VPP are expanding their virtual power plant to pool batteries for Baltic frequency restoration reserves.
By Greener Numbers Editorial Team · Published October 21, 2026 · Updated 10/21/2026
Lithuania has experienced a surge in utility-scale energy storage, expanding installed battery capacity from 700 megawatts at the end of June to 1,195 megawatts in early October 2026. Data released by transmission system operator Litgrid indicates that total storage volume reached 2,261 megawatt-hours, representing a 70 percent increase in available battery power over a single quarter.
The buildout is on track to exceed national policy benchmarks well ahead of schedule. Litgrid projects that up to 20 additional storage installations will interconnect to the transmission network before the close of 2026. If all pending facilities achieve commercial operation, Lithuania will surpass 2 gigawatts of installed power and 4 gigawatthours of storage capacity. This trajectory surpasses the national Ministry of Energy target of 1.5 gigawatts, which was originally established for 2028.
To monetize this flexible capacity, Lithuanian state-backed utility Ignitis and German software provider Emsys VPP are widening the capabilities of their shared Virtual Power Plant. Ignitis currently employs the software platform to direct-market 650 megawatts of generation and trade batteries on intraday power markets. The expanded platform will pool battery assets to deliver automatic and manual frequency restoration reserves, providing automated fast-frequency response to the regional transmission operator.
The software expansion addresses steep balancing expenditures across northeastern Europe. Following the launch of the unified Baltic balancing market in February 2025 and subsequent grid synchronization with Continental Europe, reserving frequency capacity cost transmission operators 108.6 million euros between October 2025 and June 2026. Lithuania alone accounted for 66.6 million euros, or roughly 61 percent, of those procurement expenses due to high market concentration among legacy reserve suppliers. Integrating battery storage through virtual power plants is expected to inject competitive capacity, lower procurement costs for grid operators, and secure system stability against renewable intermittency.
Official source: renewable-energy-industry.com ↗