Wind is Coloured Green: How wind energy at Tauragė became story of communities and their opportunities

An educational programme Wind is Coloured Green is being organised at Tauragė district for three years now. Every year, thousands of students, teachers and community members from across Lithuania and abroad join the initiative. The project is spearheaded by SE “Žaliasis regionas”, the municipality of Tauragė district and Ignitis Renewables, an international green energy company, which finances the educational tours.

It's the first such educational programme in Lithuania, where the community is introduced to wind energy, how it works, its benefits to mankind and the environment. The room for educational activities established at Lauksargiai hosts over a hundred of educational tours and over 2,000 attendees, both young and old, every year. The educational tours are attended by guests from across Lithuania and from abroad, including Portugal, Greece, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, even Martinique.

Educational tours instils both knowledge and emotion.

Violeta Tribičienė has been working as a tour guide for a long time and says that locals are quite fond of the project: “Our community members got very accustomed to constant educational tours. They are happy with that there's some activity in their land. Locals often come saying ‘such things were happening so close to us, and we knew so little about them’.”

According to Violeta, everyone gets involved in the activities, both young and old, while the content can be adapted to allow everyone to get familiar with the energy sector. Opinions change quite profoundly: “Everyone leaves happy, surprised and smarter about renewable energy”.

Another lecturer, Sandra Pakalniškienė, notes that most people come with preconceptions and fears of wind turbines: “Previously, people used to often have negative perceptions, including that wind turbines are noisy, a threat to birds and destroy the view. However, they come here and see the true picture – nature surrounding the wind farm with plenty of birds and animals around. After the tour, everyone leaves with positive emotions.”

Within several years, the educational facility has grown. “We have VR goggles, a smart TV, many educational tools. Participants can build wind turbine models, take measurements, this is what makes them excited,” says Pakalniškienė.

Partnership with Ignitis Renewables is more than just financial support

Ignitis Renewables is not just a financial support provider. It actively contributes to the content of educational tours, shares technological solutions and presents facts about state-of-the-art energy equipment. The programme was born out of a common vision of promoting energy literacy of the public, especially in rural areas, where wind and solar farms are being developed.

“We are seeing enormous public interest in the field of energy, and the Tauragė district is excellent for first lessons. The land here is green, and the people are actively creating a sustainable future while understanding the importance of renewable energy,” says Vaiva Rutkauskaitė, Head of #EnergySmartSTART Education Programmes.

Vaiva highlights community engagement: “Locals are not just bystanders, they give educational tours. They get paid for it. This builds partnership between communities and energy developers.”

Over four years, communities located near Tauragė hybrid wind and solar farm of Ignitis Renewables have received nearly EUR 200,000 in financial support, with EUR 145,000 directed to the educational programme Wind is Coloured Green, to help implement the programme.

Tauragė hybrid wind and solar farm generates enough electricity for the entire district

A 25-megawatt (MW) wind farm located near Lauksargiai, together with 22 MW solar farm commissioned in 2024, comprise the first hybrid wind and solar farm of Ignitis Renewables in Lithuania. This combination is enough to meet the electricity demand of around 40,000 households, i.e., approximately the entire Tauragė district.

This means that the hybrid wind and solar farm could, in theory, completely cover the electricity demand of the entire Tauragė district.

Energy that creates value for people

Educational tour participants take home with them both knowledge as well as an understanding that green energy is today’s reality and not a distant future. As one of the tour guides put it: “Not a single group went home disappointed. They usually leave inspired.”

The initiative also creates jobs in rural areas as locals with pedagogical or engineering experience work as guides. It also boosts local tourism as students and foreigners who come to the tours contribute to the local economy.