Amber Grid: Last year gas consumption in Lithuania dropped by more than a third

In 2022, Lithuania consumed 15.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) of gas, that is, 35% less than in 2021, when the country's gas demand reached 24 TWh, according to data from Amber Grid, the operator of the gas transmission system. Gas consumption decreased by more than a third as high gas prices led to a significant drop in fertiliser production in the country and electricity generation at Lithuanian power plants, as well as because of a warm winter and the decision to use mazut for heating Vilnius.

Despite the significant drop in gas consumption, Amber Grid's Lithuanian gas transmission system transported a record amount of gas last year: as much as 64 TWh. This is 21% more than last year, when 53 TWh of natural gas was transported through the system. This change was driven by a tenfold increase in gas flows to Latvia and the opening of a new gas pipeline interconnection with Poland in May last year.

"Last year, gas consumption in the EU countries declined by one fifth on average, while demand in the Baltic States and Finland declined by as much as 35-40%. Lithuania has become an important gas transmission partner for its neighbours by making use of the infrastructure it has built and meeting the region's needs. Supplying other countries with gas is also beneficial because it increases the use of gas infrastructure and allows offering better gas prices to transmission system users," says Nemunas Biknius, CEO of Amber Grid.

The outbreak of the war in Ukraine has led to a significant increase in gas flows towards Latvia. In 2022, 18.4 TWh of gas was transported to the Baltic States and Finland, that is, ten times more than in 2021, when 1.9 TWh of gas was transported northwards. The GIPL pipeline, in operation since May last year, transported 6.4 TWh of gas to Poland and 2.3 TWh to Lithuania from May to December.

The Klaipėda LNG terminal, the main source of gas supply to Lithuania and the other Baltic States, accounted for 79% (32.1 TWh) of the total gas transported into the system in 2022. Flows from Latvia accounted for almost 8% (3.3 TWh) and flows from Poland comprised 5% (2.3 TWh). From January to March, around 8% (3.1 TWh) of gas was transported through the Lithuania-Belarus interconnection.

After Lithuania stopped importing Russian gas on the 1st of April, only gas intended for Kaliningrad is transported via the Lithuania-Belarus interconnection. Gas transit to Kaliningrad Oblast in 2022 amounted to 23 TWh and was 12% lower than at the same time last year, when 27 TWh of gas was transited through Lithuania to Kaliningrad.