New military division
Darius Maikštėnas is the head of Ignitis group - the largest electricity supplier in Lithuania. Here are few excerpts from his recent interview:
We look at energy independence and national security from a slightly different angle, and see opportunities for renewable energy to strengthen our geopolitical security in general, by strengthening ties and relations with our Western partners. In other words, we must strive to become energy exporters.
If we limit ourselves to the needs of our own country, we will reach a point where new projects may become commercially unattractive. Renewable energy development will then stagnate, as developers will simply stop investing. However, if we, together with the other Baltic States, connect to Germany via power lines and prepare the infrastructure for green hydrogen production, we will have a strong incentive to continue investing in renewable energy - exports will ensure a return on investment and, at the same time, energy independence for our country. Moreover, by becoming an exporter, we would also strengthen our geopolitical security as an energy donor to Central Europe.
In order to be able to realise the surplus energy, reliable electricity interconnections must be ensured with countries that do not have sufficient renewable energy potential, such as Germany, Italy, Poland and the Czech Republic.
This is a realistic scenario. We have calculated that the renewable energy potential of the three Baltic States is 7 times higher than current electricity consumption. So we can produce a lot of green electricity and become an important supplier to Germany. Why Germany? Because the green transformation will require it to move away from fossil hydrocarbons - oil, gas and coal - and the green energy produced there will not be enough to meet the needs of its highly developed industry.
Thus, Lithuania and the Baltic region can and must become a donor of renewable energy to the allies of Central and Western Europe. It is no secret that electricity supply is vital for every country. When the industries of Central and Western European countries are dependent on electricity generated in our country, those countries will have a vested interest in defending our interests and, consequently, theirs.
To put it very briefly and simply: supplying energy to German industry is the same as having another German division in Lithuania.