Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Subscribe
The ORLEN Group has officially commissioned a 42.2 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) farm at its Mažeikiai refinery in Lithuania. Expected to generate approximately 45 GWh of clean electricity annually for ORLEN Lietuva, the project marks the Group’s largest on-site renewable energy installation to date and serves to cut operational overhead while accelerating decarbonization across its industrial asset portfolio.
Delivered by Białystok-based contractor Electrum, the €35 million investment—which secured €2.5 million from the European Union’s Modernisation Fund—highlights the export of Polish engineering expertise into major CEE energy infrastructure projects.
Spanning approximately 60 hectares directly within the refinery grounds, the installation integrates cutting-edge solar hardware to maximize yield under regional climatic conditions:
Bifacial Module Array: The site incorporates nearly 68,000 bifacial PV modules (rated at 620 W each) designed to capture both direct sunlight and reflected ground radiation, boosting total generation in low-light and overcast environments.
Cost Reduction and Energy Self-Sufficiency: The 45 GWh annual output will cover roughly 7% of ORLEN Lietuva’s total electricity demand, reducing annual power procurement costs by an estimated €4 million.
Direct Industrial Off-take: Generated clean power will feed directly into day-to-day refining processes, lowering the carbon intensity of downstream petroleum products.
“For the first time, we will generate renewable electricity on site to meet the needs of the Mažeikiai refinery. This is an important step towards reducing the environmental impact of our operations and lowering the refinery’s operating costs. The project will increase the share of ORLEN Lietuva’s electricity demand met by its own renewable generation, strengthening the company’s competitiveness and supporting the ORLEN Group’s long-term strategy.”
— Dariusz Zonenberg, CEO of ORLEN Lietuva
The project aligns directly with the ORLEN 2035 Strategy, which targets aggressive expansion in renewable generation capacity alongside efficiency overhauls across its industrial footprint. Since acquiring the asset in 2006, ORLEN has directed nearly €4.5 billion toward the acquisition and modernization of the Mažeikiai refinery, the Būtingė crude oil terminal, and the Mockava rail logistics hub.
By coupling heavy refining operations with utility-scale solar generation, ORLEN continues to solidify its operational resilience, supply security, and long-term economic commitment to the Baltic region.
The integration of utility-scale solar arrays into heavy industrial processing assets, corporate self-consumption models, and on-site decarbonization strategies for European refineries will be central topics of discussion at next year’s Go Net Zero – Central and Eastern Europe Summit
Kořensko hydroelectric power plant is currently undergoing the largest modernization in its 34-year history. Operated by ČEZ as part of the Vltava cascade, the multi-million-crown overhaul will replace core machinery across both of its turbine units, resulting in safer, greener, and significantly more efficient operations by next spring.
Enefit, the electricity subsidiary of Estonia's Eesti Energia, has officially opened the Strzałkowo solar park in central Poland. The newly launched facility marks a major milestone for the company, standing as its largest single renewable energy project in the Polish market to date.
The Strzałkowo facility boasts an impressive installed capacity of 45 megawatts (MW). Operational estimates suggest the site will generate approximately 45 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean electricity annually.
ORLEN Group has just secured a landmark deal to acquire a 216 MW hybrid renewable energy complex in Kazimierz Biskupi, marking a significant milestone in Poland’s green energy transition. By pairing a large-scale solar farm with wind turbines, the project aims to power nearly 143,000 households annually.