Solar power coming to curb European LNG terminal’s emissions

August 18, 2025, by Melisa Cavcic

Lithuanian liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal operator KN Energies (KN), formerly Klaipedos Nafta, has taken steps to secure a contractor to equip its LNG terminal with a solar power plant to unlock greenhouse gas (GHG) emission cuts.

FSRU Independence in Klaipėda; Source: Höegh Evi, former Höegh LNG

AB KN Energies has signed a contract with UAB Elmitra, a contractor selected through a public procurement procedure, for the installation of a 500 kW solar power plant at the Klaipėda LNG terminal.

Thanks to a deal that covers all installation stages, from design to grid connection, photovoltaic modules will be fitted on the rooftops of buildings and throughout the terminal’s territory. As a result, the plant is estimated to generate nearly half a gigawatt-hour of electricity annually.

This is anticipated to help avoid over 74 tons of CO2 emissions, equivalent to the emissions from driving approximately 418,000 kilometers in a car or burning 29,000 liters of diesel, all of which will no longer be emitted into the atmosphere once the power plant is operational.

KN Energies will spend nearly €350,000 on the project, part of which was received as investment support under the ‘New Generation Lithuania’ plan, funded by the European Union’s ‘NextGenerationEU’ instrument.

This comes after the terminal operator picked AB Kauno tiltai, as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) winner of the power line connection, valued at €19.3 million excluding VAT, for the Klaipėda LNG terminal.

The terminal, which has been active since 2014, with commercial activities beginning a year later, consists of a permanently moored FSRU Independence, a 450-meter-long berth, a connecting nearly 18-kilometer-long gas pipeline, and a gas metering station.