Saules Graza: Inspired by the sun

Tomas Šimanauskas used to work as a solar engineer in London but returned to his home country of Lithuania to set up Saules Graza, which has grown into one of the leading electricity companies in the country. Saules Graza design and install solar power plants, from small, household installations to larger industrial solar parks, active in a sector of the economy that is seeing increasing demand as the environmental pressure mounts on fossil fuels.

GROWTH & OPPORTUNITY

“With high electricity prices, everyone now wants solar panels,” Tomas adds. There are more companies active in this area, competition has intensified, and prices have gone down a lot. But there is good reason to be optimistic for the future of renewable energy in Lithuania: “We have lots of land to build solar parks. It’s a country with 3m population and an area twice the size of Belgium, so there’s lots of opportunity.”

THE INFRASTRUCTURE EFFECT

One element that is key when it comes to the penetration and impact of renewable energy is solid infrastructure. “Lithuania is a good place to develop solar energy because we have good connections in the country, also connections to Poland, Sweden, Latvia. This infrastructure goes back to the times of nuclear power. At the moment we produce around 30% of our electricity, but in a few years, we could be exporters,” Tomas explains with conviction, describing the rapid developments.

FUELING GROWTH

In 2023, the company grew 40% and similar growth is expected this year too. “That kind of growth requires a lot of cash,” Tomas says. For this purpose, the company secured an EU-guaranteed loan through SME Bank under the InvestEU programme. “Borrowing allows me to avoid diluting my shareholding. We can grow fast while still doing business through our management team, taking decisions quickly.”

THE SPEED OF CHANGE

With the business on a solid growth path, Tomas and his team are also looking at other adjacent areas with increasing interest, like hydrogen and battery storage. “We’re seeing lots of battery storage projects coming up. Battery capacity is changing rapidly. Technology is really moving fast.” Not unlike his company…

Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
Financial Intermediary: SME Bank
SME: Saules Graza
Sector: energy
Number of employees: 100
Financing purpose: cashflow
EU financing: InvestEU