SEB Bank purchases a solar power plant – part of the energy will be supplied by the wind

In Lithuania, SEB Bank has purchased a 500 kW remote solar power plant and signed a contract with wind farms to use the energy they produce to supply its offices. By using a hybrid energy supply model, where both solar and wind are used to supply electricity, the bank will use all the electricity it produces for its own needs and will be able to supply green electricity to the bank’s branches.

“First of all, we analysed and calculated when our buildings use the most electricity. Based on the data obtained, we decided to purchase a 500 kW remote solar power plant, which will produce a third of the electricity we need. We decided not to buy a bigger solar plant because we understand that on sunny days, we would be generating surplus electricity that would require storage. This would result in balancing costs that would have to be borne by all electricity consumers. We decided to go another route and concluded a contract with an independent electricity supplier that undertook to supply the extra electricity we need from wind power plants operating in Lithuania. By taking this step, we want to directly contribute to investments in the development of solar and wind parks and renewable energy in Lithuania,” says Ramūnas Bičiulaitis, who is CFO and head of the Business Support Division at SEB Bank in Lithuania.

SEB Bank purchased the solar power plant from Elektrum Lietuva, and Enefit will be supplying the bank’s buildings with energy generated by its wind farms according to a long-term (2024-2029) electricity supply contract. 

“More and more companies are looking at remote solar farms as a convenient way to obtain clean energy and reduce electricity costs. Acquisition of part of a remote solar farm is a strategic step towards a cleaner environment and more sustainable operations,” says Grytė Kaminskienė, head of the Business Solutions Department at Elektrum Lietuva.

“Wind energy is one of the cleanest methods of electricity generation, so we are happy that SEB Bank has decided to make its contribution to the creation of a more sustainable future and the development of renewable energy in the country. The green electricity we supply comes with guarantees of origin, proving that all of the electricity was produced exclusively from renewable energy sources; in this case, the energy will be coming from the Enefit Green wind farms operating in Kelmė, Akmenė and Šilalė,” says Enefit B2B manager Romas Urbonas.

In the summer of 2020, SEB Bank moved to a new 12,900 m2 headquarters in Vilnius, which has been awarded a BREEAM International New Construction building environmental impact assessment certificate. SEB is constantly making efforts to reduce its direct negative impact on the climate. The bank has set the goal of reducing CO2 emissions to zero by 2045.