The effect of legislation on hydropower development: case study of Lithuania

The article analyzes the effect of the Lithuanian legislation on hydropower development via the document content analysis and comparative analysis of legislation and scientific literature. The main focus of the article is on assessing the hydropower potential in line with the environmental legislation and establishing the possible development priorities. Effective legislative activity and energy sector management stimulate the production and consumption of electricity from renewable energy (RE) sources, which serve as an alternative to organic fuel, while in Lithuania, non-harmonized legislation creates barriers for effective and socially beneficial use of hydropower. The environmental policy in Lithuania is one of the most rigorous in the European Union. The unconditional prohibition of dam building in ecologically and culturally valuable rivers means that the untapped hydropower potential in Lithuania is only 5%