Lithuania: State Generators Deployed as 30,000 Households Still Without Power After Storm

Energijos skirstymo operatorius (ESO), Lithuania's electricity distribution operator, is deploying state reserve generators to help mitigate the ongoing power outages affecting around 30,000 customers. This measure comes as the company works to restore electricity after a record-breaking storm last weekend caused extensive damage to the power grid.

While ESO reports that power has been restored to about 90% of its clients, the remaining 30,000 households face prolonged outages due to particularly complex and severe network damage. In response, ESO has requested and received approval to utilize the state's generator reserve to provide essential power to those most affected, working in coordination with local municipalities to identify specific needs.

Renaldas Radvila, CEO of ESO, stated, "We are currently in the final stage of restoring electricity supply – for the majority of customers, we have already restored supply, but about 30,000 customers remain for whom electricity supply restoration is taking time due to extremely complex network damage. We are looking for all possible solutions to help people get through this period more easily, and at our request, the head of the emergency operations center decided to allow the use of the state generator reserve."

Power has been fully restored in the Klaipėda and Šiauliai regions, with most disruptions resolved elsewhere. However, the most challenging and isolated outages persist in the Anykščiai, Molėtai, Utena, Zarasai, and Ukmergė municipalities. ESO plans to resolve all these issues by September 3rd. Over a thousand employees are currently working to expedite power restoration in affected regions, including Utena, Kaunas, Panevėžys, Alytus, Šiauliai, Vilnius, and Klaipėda.

Customers whose electricity supply is restored later than 72 hours after the storm's impact will automatically receive compensation without needing to apply. ESO is also exploring additional options for temporary power supply, with information on available generators in municipalities accessible via a generator map.

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We are currently in the final stage of restoring electricity supply – for the majority of customers, we have already restored supply, but about 30,000 customers remain for whom electricity supply restoration is taking time due to extremely complex network damage. We are looking for all possible solutions to help people get through this period more easily, and at our request, the head of the emergency operations center decided to allow the use of the state generator reserve. Now, together with the municipalities, we are specifying the exact need so that the generators can be delivered as soon as possible where they are most needed.