Monday’s announcement builds on a partnership that started in 2024, when Ignitis brought in software company emsys VPP to build a virtual power plant for the direct marketing of its portfolio of around 650 MW. Since then, the platform has become a workhorse for the utility, forecasting output from its wind and solar farms and trading its batteries on the intraday market.
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The expansion adds balancing services to the same platform. To take part, battery systems must be technically connected, prequalified and linked to Litgrid’s control system. The initial focus is on automatic and manual frequency restoration reserves (aFRR and mFRR), and wind and solar plants could be added later.
Demand for fast flexibility in the Baltic grid has grown since Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania cut their links with the Russian-controlled IPS/UPS system on 8 February 2025 and synchronised with continental Europe the very next day. The switch brought new requirements for frequency control and for balancing short-term swings between supply and demand.
Fast response, more revenue
“Battery storage systems in particular can react very quickly to changes in the grid and therefore play a key role in making it more flexible,” says Eike Arndt, managing director of emsys VPP. “By pooling battery storage systems in our virtual power plant, we can respond more precisely and flexibly to the daily needs of the power and balancing markets, while maximising the value these assets generate,” explains Aivaras Slivikas, head of short-term trading at Ignitis.
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The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy through the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme of the German Energy Solutions Initiative, run with the German Energy Agency (dena). (TF)
