Lithuania’s natural gas consumption rises 31% YOY in first nine months: Amber Grid

Lithuania’s natural gas consumption was recorded 31% higher year-on-year in the period January-September 2024, at some 12.2 TWh (1.1 Bcm), with cooler weather and lower gas prices prompting the upturn in demand, transmission system operator Amber Grid said on Nov. 4.

This compares to gas consumption of 9.3 TWh over the same period in 2023, with cheaper prices in 2024 seeing increased consumption in the electricity and fertilizer sectors, the operator added.

In 2024, Lithuania transported some 21 TWh of gas through its transmission system through January-September, noting a 27% decline compared to 28.8 TWh of gas transported over the same period in 2023.

This was largely due to the six-month outage of the Balticconnector pipeline, connecting Estonia and Finland with the region’s wider gas transmission networks, from October 2023-April 2024, prompting Finland to turn to LNG imports over the period, the operator said.

Likewise, maintenance inspections at the Klaipeda LNG terminal -- which has been key in diversifying Lithuania's gas supplies away from Russia -- saw the facility offline for over a month, also limiting gas imports to the region.

The Klaipeda LNG Terminal accounted for some 78% of gas supplied to Lithuania through January-September 2024, at 16.3 TWh, while 1.1 TWh was transported to Europe via the GIPL gas pipeline to Poland over the same period, the operator added.

Infrastructure constraints also saw lower gas flows from Lithuania to neighboring Baltic countries, according to Amber Grid, with gas flows to the Incukalns gas storage facility through the third quarter of 2024 recorded at 7.3 TWh, a 56% decline from the 16.6 TWh sent to storage through the third quarter of 2023.

This comes as supply-side developments continue to shape European gas prices in recent months, particularly regarding the potential expiry of the Russia-Ukraine transit agreement at the end of 2024.

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, assessed the Dutch TTF month-ahead price at Eur38.835/MWh on Nov. 1, down by 2.55% on the day.

Green gas production

Amber Grid noted gas consumption through 2024 was also complemented by "continued progress" in its biogas and biomethane production.

The operator said around 100 GWh of biomethane produced from agricultural waste was fed into its gas system through January-September 2024, which could generate heat for some 8,000 households.

"By creating clear and simple conditions for businesses to connect biogas production facilities to the gas transmission system, we also increase the amount of biomethane in the network," Nemunas Biknius, CEO of Amber Grid, said.

Biknius said work on the country’s third biogas injection point was underway in northern Lithuania, with several more connection points planned. Equally, the operator noted trade in green gas guarantees of origin was growing.

Biomethane GOs continue to decline in recent months, with Platts assessing the German spot GO price at a record low of Eur19.275/MWh on Nov. 1, although flat on the day.

The spot equivalent for Dutch GOs was assessed at Eur19.075/MWh over the same period, while the Danish spot GO price was assessed at Eur14.175/MWh on Nov. 1, Platts data showed.