Amid a general reluctance to develop offshore wind farms by western industrialised nations, Lithuania has announced the failure of its second tender for an offshore wind farm.

The Lithuanian government reactivated this second tender in June 2025 after it was suspended two years ago due to a lack of interest. However, in order for the concession to be awarded, national regulations require at least two bids. As only one bid was received from the local energy supplier Ignitis in October, the tender was cancelled due to a lack of market interest.

It would have been Lithuania's second wind farm in the Baltic Sea and would have offered space for a turbine capacity of 700 MW. The Lithuanian regulatory authorities announced that the tender could be relaunched at a later date if market conditions change.

Lithuania's first offshore wind farm lease in the Baltic Sea (also 700 MW) was won by a joint venture between Ocean Winds from Spain and the state-controlled Lithuanian Ignitis Group. Last week, Ignitis announced that it will buy out Ocean Winds' 49 per cent stake and become the sole owner of the project. As a result of the purchase, Ignitis is now the only active player in the Lithuanian offshore wind market.

Western offshore wind companies have scaled back their ambitions for various reasons, such as rising prices and supply chain difficulties. There is no sign of an end to this restraint. On the contrary, the largest wind farm player, the Danish company Ørsted, which is having problems in the US market, wants to increase its involvement in Europe in future and is planning to lay off an estimated 2,000 employees by 2027.

For internationally positioned companies weighing up investment opportunities, Lithuania offers only low wind subsidies and a deteriorating security climate: Russia is increasingly acting as a hostile neighbour and has capabilities to disrupt critical underwater infrastructure. Not a good omen.

kdk, The Maritime Executive