Ignitis Group (Ignitis grupė AB; former name: Lietuvos Energija UAB) is a state-owned energy holding company located in

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. The Group’s core business is focused on operating Lithuania’s electricity distribution network (Networks) and managing and developing its Green Generation Portfolio (Green Generation). The Group also manages strategically important reserve capacities (Reserve Capacities) and provides services to its customers (Customers & Solutions), including the supply of electricity and natural gas, solar, e-mobility, energy efficiency and innovative energy solutions for private and business customers. Ignitis Group shares are predominantly owned by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania, with the current Chairman of the Board and CEO of the company being Darius Maikštėnas. It is the fifth largest company in the

Baltics The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. The

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

was made on 7 October 2020. Ignitis Group shares are listed in

Nasdaq Vilnius The Nasdaq Vilnius is a stock exchange established in 1993 (''Vilnius Stock Exchange'', ''VSE'') and currently operated by Nasdaq, Inc.. Shares are listed on a Nasdaq Baltic stock exchange together with stocks from Latvia and Estonia. OMX Vil ...

and

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

History

Lietuvos Energija was founded in 1991. It was a vertically integrated state-owned enterprise that owned and operated all electrical and heating businesses in Lithuania apart from the

Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant The Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant () is a Nuclear decommissioning, decommissioned two-unit RBMK-1500 nuclear power plant, nuclear power station in Visaginas Municipality, Lithuania. It was named after the nearby city of Ignalina. Due to the plant' ...

. In 1997, the company was registered as Lietuvos Energija AB and it was partly privatized. The government kept 86.5% of the shares while 8.5% was privatized to the company's workers, and 5% to the Swedish company

Vattenfall Vattenfall is a Swedish multinational corporation, multinational electrical power industry, power company owned by the List of government enterprises of Sweden, Swedish state. Beyond Sweden, the company generates power in Denmark, Finland, Germa ...

. In 2002, power generation companies AB Lietuvos Elektrinė and AB Mažeikių Elektrinė, and distribution grid companies AB Rytų skirstomieji tinklai and AB Vakarų skirstomieji tinklai were separated from Lietuvos Energija. In 2007, Lietuvos Energija acquired a stake in UAB Geoterma, the owner and operator of the

Klaipėda Geothermal Demonstration Plant The Klaipėda Geothermal Demonstration Plant is a geothermal heating plant in Klaipėda, Lithuania, constructed during the late 1990s and early 2000s. It was the first geothermal heating plant in the Baltic Sea region. Its purpose was to reduce car ...

. In 2008, Lietuvos Energija was transferred to newly established energy holding company LEO LT. After dissolution of LEO LT in 2010, Lietuvos Energija became a subsidiary of UAB Visagino Atomine Elektrine, a state-owned project company of the

Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant was a planned nuclear power plant project in Lithuania. It was proposed to be built at the site of the closed Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, which was shut down on 31 December 2009 in accordance with Lithuania' ...

. At the same year, the company acquired Lietuvos Elektrinė, another subsidiary of Visagino Atomine Elektrine. In September 2012, the transmission system operator

Litgrid Litgrid AB is a Lithuanian electricity transmission system operator that operates Lithuania's electricity transmission grid. Litgrid is responsible for the integration of the Lithuanian electricity system into the European electricity infrastruc ...

and the electricity market operator Baltpool were separated from Lietuvos Energija and spun off to the state-owned company EPSO-G. In 2013, Lietuvos Energija AB changed its name to Lietuvos Energijos Gamyba AB, and its parent company UAB Visagino Atominė Elektrinė has changed its name to Lietuvos Energija UAB. In October 2017, Lietuvos Energija acquired the Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant (Vilnius Power Plant-3) from Vilniaus šilumos tinklai. In 2018, Lietuvos Energija bought Lithuanian wind park operators UAB Vejo Vatas and UAB Vejo Gusis with a 34-MW wind portfolio. It also acquired a 50-MW wind park project in Poland. On 5 September 2019, Lietuvos Energija was renamed Ignitis Group. Lietuvos Energijos Tiekimas, Energijos Tiekimas, Gilė and Litgas were merged to form Ignitis UAB. Lietuvos Energijos Gamyba became Ignitis Gamyba and Lietuvos Energija Renewables became Ignitis Renewables. Other subsidiaries, except

Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB (ESO) is an electricity and gas distribution company in Lithuania. It was established on 1 January 2016 through merger of the Lithuanian electricity distribution network operator LESTO AB and a gas company Liet ...

, were also renamed accordingly. In 2020, Ignitis Group implemented the initial public distribution of shares (English IPO), after which its shares were listed on the Nasdaq Vilnius stock exchange. The IPO raised 450€ million EUR capital while the state continues to control a 74.99% controlling share package. On September 9, 2021, Ignitis Group acquired 100% of the capital of Ignitis Gamyba after delisting the later from

alongside

Energijos skirstymo operatorius Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB (ESO) is an electricity and gas distribution company in Lithuania. It was established on 1 January 2016 through merger of the Lithuanian electricity distribution network operator LESTO AB and a gas company Liet ...

. In July 2024, Ignitis transferred equipment from its TPP-3 Vilnius thermal power plant to support Ukraine's energy infrastructure as part of the Baltics states mission to support the freedom.

Investment in renewable energy across the Baltic countries

In 2023,

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S ("CIP") is a Danish investment firm specializing in infrastructure investments, particularly wind power. CIP is one of the world's largest dedicated renewables investment firms with €32 billion raised and ...

and Ignitis won the tender in an auction to develop offshore wind farms in the Liivi 1 and Liivi 2 areas for Estonia in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. In November 2024, the Group announced its intent to participate in second tender to develop 700 MW offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Lithuania. It will attempt to identify a partner for the project. This followed Ignitis' win of the first tender in 2023 with a partner. The company also plans significant investment in Latvia. The company has announced plans to invest €178 million in solar energy in Latvia through three solar farms in

Kuldīga Kuldīga () () is a town in the Courland region of Latvia, in the western part of the country. It is the center of Kuldīga Municipality with a population of approximately 13,500. Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joined the Hanseatic L ...

and Bauksa. Ignitis plans to invest at least €700 million in solar and wind projects in Latvia. It also plans an investment of €115 million to develop the largest fast-charging network for electric cars in Latvia by 2026. The company manages investment in renewable energy through its subsidiary, Ignitis Renewables.

Operations

Ignitis Gamyba (100% stake owned by Ignitis Group) owns the

Elektrėnai Power Plant The Elektrėnai Power Plant or Elektrėnai Complex () is a gas- and fuel-oil-fired 1,055 MW electricity generating station near Elektrėnai, Lithuania, about west of the capital, Vilnius. It is operated by Ignitis gamyba AB, a subsidiary of I ...

, the

Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant Kruonis Pumped Storage Plant (the KPSP) is a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant located near Kruonis, Lithuania, east of Kaunas. Its main purpose is to provide grid energy storage. It operates in conjunction with the Kaunas Hydroelectri ...

and the

Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant The Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant () is a hydroelectric power plant located on the Nemunas River about southeast of Kaunas, Lithuania. It was completed in 1960 and its dam created the Kaunas Reservoir. Owned by Ignitis Group, it operates in ...

. Meanwhile, the Vilnius Combined Heat and Power Plant is 100% owned directly by Ignitis Group. Ignitis supplies electricity through Energijos Skirstymo Operatorius AB (100% stake owned by Ignitis Group) and natural gas through Ignitis UAB. Its subsidiary UAB Ignitis Renewables is responsible for the wind and solar energy projects. In addition to Lithuania, Ignitis operates in Estonia, Latvia, Poland, and Finland.

References

External links

* {{authority control Electric power companies of Lithuania Natural gas companies of Lithuania Companies based in Vilnius Energy companies established in 1991 Non-renewable resource companies established in 1991 1991 establishments in Lithuania Companies listed on Nasdaq Vilnius Companies in the OMX Baltic 10 Government-owned energy companies Government-owned companies of Lithuania