Parks bringing power to the people

ELEKTRENAI: Lithuania is pioneering a scheme to allow citydwellers who do not own the roof over their apartment blocks to buy solar panels located in special rural parks for their cheaper energy needs.

About a dozen such parks have opened in the past year, some up to 50km from the homes they supply with solar energy.

‘‘You invest upfront, but then for the next 2025 years you save on electricity costs. So, with this zerointerest rate environment, it’s a small but good investment,’’ Vytautas Plunksnis, who bought a 1.5kW panel at one solar park.

The park is next to an old decommissioned gas power plant which was blanketed in snow this week.

‘‘It’s winter, there’s very little sun . . . but I understand that most of my electricity will be generated in summertime,’’ Plunksnis said.

The park will produce electricity for 25 years and Plunksnis will have to pay for maintenance such as cleaning the panels and for the national grid to bring electricity to his house.