Wind power usage and prediction prospects in Lithuania

Wind power is not widely used in Lithuania yet. Currently only few small-scale wind turbines with total capacity of 0.995 MW are operating. However, Lithuania is planning to install wind power plants with total capacity of 200 MW by the year 2010. In this paper, wind energy resource assessment experience as well as current situation and future prospective of wind energy usage in Lithuania are reviewed. Main features of Lithuanian electrical system are presented and issues related to wind energy integration in electrical networks are discussed. The aim of this work is to point up the importance of wind power prediction in Lithuania. Thus a short review of wind power prediction methods is presented which has shown that selection of most suitable prediction models for Lithuanian conditions requires detailed research.