Technopolis, which operates the largest office campus in Lithuania, substantially expanded the use of solar energy for its buildings – the solar power plants installed on its own roofs were supplemented by the energy supplied by a remote solar farm, which was assigned to the company in April. Built by the renewable energy company Green Genius in the Seduva district, the solar power plant will meet about 50% of the total annual electricity demand of Technopolis’ buildings in Lithuania.

“Office buildings are energy-intensive and contribute to huge carbon emissions worldwide, so carbon neutrality is one of our key objectives. Technopolis Ozas in Lithuania is the first campus of Technopolis, which operates in six countries, to get such a large share of the used energy from solar sources. This use of solar energy has a significant impact: it is estimated that it will reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Lithuania by 8,700 tonnes in 5 years, which equals 410.5 thousand trees,” says Linas Savickas, Business Unit Director of Technopolis Ozas in Vilnius.

“Customer surveys show that it is increasingly important for customer companies to see how their office operator helps them to act in a sustainable and responsible way. Solar energy is not new to us, and we have been installing solar power plants on the roofs of our buildings with our partners since we set up operations in Lithuania. However, suitable areas for solar power plants are limited and even with all the infrastructure we have, we cannot produce enough solar energy compared to what we need. We started investigating the possibility of utilizing a remote solar power plant about two years ago back when the energy price crisis was not even a possibility. We are very happy where we are now with the remote solar power plant,” says Savickas.

Karolis Proscevicius, Head of Sales at Green Genius, says that renewable energy has become even more important in recent years. The popularity of green energy in Lithuania, which had already been increasing, has grown exponentially over the last year since Technopolis signed the contract. “It can be stated that Technopolis has jumped in this train at the right time,” he says.

“The statistics are impressive: the number of consumers that also generate renewable electricity has grown with an increase of 263 MW per year in 2022 alone, and that is almost 150% more compared to 2021. The number could probably be even higher, but regulatory changes have slowed down the process, so the winners are those who make decisions now. We currently have a queue of 1-1.5 years, which is the time it takes from signing a contract to installing and connecting a remote solar plant,” says Proscevičius.

“The scale of this project is huge as is its sustainability impact. We are so proud of our Ozas campus, it really is a forerunner on this topic,” Johanna Kivelä Technopolis Sustainability Manager says, and continues:

“The foundation for our sustainability is to enable our customers to be sustainable. When our customers choose Technopolis, they know they are making a sustainable choice.”

Technopolis is committed to using carbon-neutral energy in all of its buildings by 2030 – this includes electricity as well as energy used for heating and cooling. The electricity targets have already been met, with 100% CO2-neutral and certified electricity used in all Technopolis office campuses in six countries. Also, the overall target is well on its way, Technopolis scope 2 carbon footprint was only 7 kg CO2/gross m2 in 2022 group-wide, which is approximately 75% less than in 2019.