Lithuania’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Marius Skuodis, together with representatives of LTG Group, and LTG Infra, visited Juodšiliai, in Vilnius District, where it was inspected the first noise barrier with solar panels which produces electricity. It was also discussed about the progress and prospects of this unparalleled pilot project.
Lithuania’s first noise barrier with solar panels was installed this year in Juodšiliai, near the Kyviškės – Vaičiūnai railway line. The 22.2 KW solar power plant is expected to generate up to 14 MWh of electricity per year.
“Such solar power plants are an innovative unmatched product and an excellent example of how a part of the energy needed by railways can be produced in a sustainable way, making more efficient use of the area of noise barriers located next to railways,” the minister said.
According to the Head of Strategy and Governance at LTG Infra, Ramūnas Dokšas, the noise barriers currently used by LTG Infra perform their main function of protecting the surrounding population from the noise caused by railway traffic, but do not provide any additional value. In order to optimise the use of railway infrastructure, this pilot project was launched to evaluate the effectiveness of a vertical bifacial solar module in real-life conditions for generating electricity while at the same time mitigating and reflecting railway traffic noise.
“If the project proves to be successful, such solar power plants could be installed on many noise barriers. This would allow LTG Group as a whole to increase the sustainability of its operations by generating electricity from renewable energy sources and to reduce the amount of electricity it buys from external suppliers,” said Dokšas.
It is estimated that even such a small solar power plant would save 420 tonnes of CO2 and protect more than 9,500 trees over its life cycle.
“I am pleased that Lithuanian companies can implement such unrivalled innovative projects in synergy with the public sector. And although the final results of this pilot project of a solar power plant on a noise barrier will be revealed in a year’s time, we can already see that the interim results are exceeding expectations and that the technology is proving its worth,” said Vidmantas Janulevičius, Chairman of the Board at SoliTek, one of the companies implementing the project.
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