Green Genius, a Lithuania-based clean energy developer, has secured permits for the construction of two solar projects, with a total capacity of 198.8MW, in the Baltic nations of Lithuania and Latvia.

The company will build a 78MW solar plant, to be located near Seduva in central-north Lithuania, as well as a second project in Latvia with a capacity of 120.8MW.

Construction on the two solar plants is due to begin by the middle of next year.

The company will invest €179m ($190.5m) on the two projects, including €70m on the Lithuanian project, which will be built on more than 140 hectares (ha) of land.

To be located in central-south Latvia, near the city of Jekabpils, the second solar park will be built on 153ha of land. It will entail an investment of €109m.

The two projects are expected to begin operations in 2025 and will generate around 245 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity annually, which will be sufficient to power around 82,000 homes.

The company expects to supply the green electricity generated from the projects to the B2B sector.

Green Genius solar business head Simonas Sileikis said: “The markets in the Baltic countries have reached a certain new stage of maturity when new opportunities to develop large-scale projects arise alongside the development of usual smaller-scale solar parks.

“Each of the large-scale projects will be of great importance in decentralising the energy sources and strengthening the energy independence of the entire region.

“So far, Green Genius has been developing large-scale projects only in Western European countries, mainly Spain and Italy. The opportunity to apply this experience and knowledge to the Baltic region seems extremely meaningful to me.”