Ignitis Gamyba has selected HYDROGRID to deploy its hydropower optimisation platform at the Kruonis Hydro Pumped Storage Power Plant (HPSPP) and Kaunas Hydropower Plant (HPP) in Lithuania.
The two facilities have a combined installed capacity of more than 1GW and play a central role in Lithuania’s grid balancing and reserve capacity.
The agreement covers the full suite of HYDROGRID Insight modules, including real-time operational optimisation, dispatch scheduling, market bidding support and ancillary services management.
The platform will provide automated scheduling across Kruonis HPSPP and Kaunas HPP, with the aim of optimising dispatch across ancillary services and energy markets. It will also combine hydrological inflow forecasting with market signals to support short- and medium-term generation planning.
Water management and production planning tools will support participation in ancillary services under the requirements of the Synchronous Grid of Continental Europe, including frequency containment reserve (FCR), automatic frequency restoration reserve (aFRR), manual frequency restoration reserve (mFRR) and capacity reserve obligations.
HYDROGRID Insight will be integrated with Ignitis Gamyba’s existing SCADA and historian infrastructure through application programming interfaces (APIs), enabling real-time data flows while retaining the company’s existing operational and IT systems.
Kruonis HPSPP currently has 900MW of installed capacity. A fifth unit is under construction and will increase the plant’s total capacity to 1010MW. An 80MW/160MWh battery energy storage system is also planned at the Kruonis site and is expected to be integrated into the common asset management system.
Kaunas HPP has an installed capacity of 100.8MW across four run-of-river units and is Lithuania’s largest renewable power plant.
“The power system dynamics we operate in are shifting – balancing requirements are tightening and the generation mix is changing fast.,” commented Giedrius Radvila, Head of Ancillary Services, Ignitis Gamyba AB. “We needed better visibility and control over our assets to stay ahead of that, and that’s what HYDROGRID gives us: the operational intelligence and automation our grid role demands in constantly changing market conditions.”
The deployment follows the Baltic states’ synchronisation with the Synchronous Grid of Continental Europe. On 8 February 2025, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania left the BRELL synchronous system, which linked the three Baltic states with Belarus and Russia, before joining the Continental European system.
The transition was supported by more than €1.2 billion in European Union investment under the Connecting Europe Facility. It introduced a new technical framework for Baltic power generators, including requirements related to frequency response and real-time system operation.
The Baltic Balancing Capacity Market has also created opportunities for hydro operators to use available generation capacity in balancing markets across Lithuania and the wider Baltic region.
Ignitis Gamyba has been advancing digitalisation across its generation fleet, with the HYDROGRID deployment intended to support the optimisation and market operation of its hydro assets.
“Synchronizing with Continental Europe rewrites the technical rulebook overnight: new frequency standards, new balancing obligations, new demands for real-time precision. HYDROGRID Insight gives operators the automation to meet those demands. We are proud to support Ignitis Gamyba in that mission,” said Janice Goodenough, CEO, HYDROGRID
