Data-center law in Lithuania

National jurisdiction · as of 2026-09-07

Lithuania has no data-center-specific siting, permitting, or utility statute; a data-center project is governed by the general electricity-sector licensing regime and the general construction and land-use frameworks it cross-references.

The Law on Electricity (Elektros energetikos įstatymas, No. VIII-1881) requires a license from the National Energy Regulatory Council (Valstybinė energetikos reguliavimo taryba, VERT) before a person may generate electricity, develop electricity-generation or energy-storage capacity, or lay a direct line, activities relevant to a data center that builds its own generation or storage capacity or a private connection.

The same Act sets a statutory land-easement regime letting a network operator install lines and equipment on land it does not own, subject to compensation, and requires that electricity facilities and installations themselves be built under the general Law on Construction's own procedure.

The Law on Environmental Impact Assessment (No. I-1495), the Law on Construction (No. I-1240) in its own right, the general framework Law on Energy (No. IX-884), the Law on Energy from Renewable Sources (No. XI-1375), the investment-incentive regime under the Law on Investments (No. VIII-1312), and the Law on Energy Efficiency Improvement (No. XII-2702) were not reached in this review.

01

Instruments on record

2 instruments on record, grouped by the family of approval each one governs.

Land use

Who decides whether a data center may occupy a site, and through what approval?

Law on Electricity Art. 75, Land Use for Electricity Facilities and Installations

In force

Elektros energetikos įstatymas (Nr. VIII-1881) 75 str.

Effective 2024-11-01 · Applies to both

Electricity facilities and installations, other than low- and medium-voltage lines and their fittings, are built under the procedure the Law on Construction and its implementing legislation set. The Ministry of Energy instead sets the procedure for designing, installing and publicly disclosing data on the excepted line installations.

To operate, maintain, repair, or reconstruct a facility or installation sited on land or other real property a network operator does not own, this Act itself establishes a land or real-property easement within that installation's protection zone. A network operator may only lay transmission or distribution lines, or install other electrical equipment, on land it does not own after resolving the land's use with the owner.

Where a written agreement on an easement is required, the operator pays the owner a one-time compensation for the loss the easement or the protection zone's special land-use conditions cause, including for destroyed plantings, crops or felled forest.

Source: Full text of law

Energy and grid

What authorizations govern grid connection and onsite generation?

Law on Electricity Art. 16, Licensed Activities in the Electricity Sector

In force

Elektros energetikos įstatymas (Nr. VIII-1881) 16 str.

Effective 2026-01-01 · Applies to both

A license is required to generate electricity, develop electricity-generation or energy-storage capacity, lay a direct line, export or import electricity to or from a non-Member State, act as an independent supplier or independent demand-response aggregator, modernize a renewable-energy generating facility, or generate electricity from an energy-storage installation. The National Energy Regulatory Council, called 'the Council' in the Act, issues, suspends, revokes and supervises these licenses.

The Council is the Valstybinė energetikos reguliavimo taryba (VERT). Licenses are issued for an indefinite term, except a license to develop generation or storage capacity, to lay a direct line, to generate electricity from an installation sited in Lithuania's territorial sea or exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea, or to modernize a renewable-energy facility, each of which is term-limited.

A term-limited license runs, for example, 24 months for a solar installation under 6 MW and 48 months for most other generation or storage installations.

Source: Full text of law

Every entry cites the instrument it describes. None of it is legal advice: verify a citation before relying on it. Full sourcing: read the methodology. The rest of the record: all jurisdictions.