Lithuania invests 500 million euros to harden power grid against storms
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The Lithuanian government approved a 500 million euro plan to strengthen the country’s electricity grid and reduce outages from severe storms.
The Audrų paket (Storm Package) aims to improve grid resilience by 2030, focusing on burying power lines in forested areas prone to damage from falling trees. Authorities plan to replace 5,900 kilometers of overhead lines with underground cables, prioritizing 10 and 0.4 kilovolt lines.
The government also intends to increase the availability of backup generators throughout the country, aiming for a total of 40,000 small generators to serve remote locations. These generators would be distributed through local municipalities and administrations. The plan prioritizes funding for solar power and energy storage systems for approximately 30,000 consumers in isolated areas. In addition to infrastructure upgrades, the Audrų paket includes measures to improve response times during outages.
The government will create 200 additional repair crews, nearly doubling current capacity, and will assess the preparedness of energy companies ESO and Litgrid. The National Crisis Management Centre will receive quarterly reports on the plan’s progress. The goal is to reduce the number of customers left without power during a storm of similar strength to one experienced in August from 270,000 to around 60,000, restoring power within 72 hours.
