* Spot benchmark definition: Day-ahead trading based on perfect forecasts, assuming no market saturation, using linear optimization to find the schedule which brings the global maximum revenue, taking into account the cycle limits, round trip efficiency, and battery specifications
Executive Summary
Green Genius, a prominent developer and operator of renewable energy projects in Lithuania, owns and operates the Butrimonys battery park, a 1 MW / 2 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) located in the Alytus district. The project was developed to support Lithuania’s energy transition: strengthening energy independence, reducing reliance on fossil-fuel-based balancing, and enabling a cleaner, more resilient grid as renewable penetration grows.
To unlock the asset’s full commercial potential, Green Genius partnered with Capalo AI. Through the Capalo Zeus VPP platform, the Butrimonys battery park became the first commercial storage facility in Lithuania to participate in the country’s electricity balancing market — trading across both mFRR and aFRR markets with fully automated, AI-driven optimisation.
“The energy landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace. The shift from a 1-hour to a 15-minute settlement period, combined with the expansion from traditional day-ahead and intraday markets to a suite of ancillary services like FCR, aFRR, and mFRR, has exponentially increased decision-making complexity. To effectively forecast, bid, and optimise across these new capacity and energy markets, human-led trading is no longer sufficient. This is why we’ve embraced AI; it’s essential for navigating this complexity and ensuring our assets achieve their maximum commercial potential.”
— Povilas Čėsna, Head of Trading and Origination at Green Genius
Customer
Green Genius is a fast-growing developer and operator of renewable energy projects with a strategic focus on Lithuania’s energy transition. The company is committed to building scalable, long-term energy infrastructure that supports grid stability, reduces fossil-fuel dependency for system balancing, and accelerates the shift to a cleaner, more resilient energy system.
The 1 MW / 2 MWh Butrimonys battery park in the Alytus district represents a landmark step in that strategy, the first commercial BESS project in Lithuania to actively participate in the national electricity balancing market.
Challenge
As renewable energy penetration increases across the Baltic region, grid operators face growing demand for flexible balancing capacity. Lithuania’s transmission system operator, Litgrid, currently maintains balancing service agreements with 27 market participants, but the market has historically been dominated by conventional generation assets.
For Green Genius, the challenge was two-fold: to successfully onboard the Butrimonys battery park, the first such asset prequalified into Lithuania’s balancing market, and to do so in a way that maximised the asset’s commercial performance from day one. Participating in balancing services, specifically the mFRR and aFRR markets, required passing Litgrid’s readiness confirmation tests and navigating a prequalification process with exacting technical and operational standards.
The broader context made this even more significant. The Baltic TSOs (Transmission System Operators) joined MARI (the European mFRR balancing platform) in October 2024 and PICASSO (the aFRR platform) in March-April 2025, opening Lithuanian assets to pan-European balancing market participation for the first time. Realising the full value of this opportunity required a trading and optimisation partner with both the technical infrastructure and the regulatory expertise to move quickly.
After evaluating their options, Green Genius selected Capalo AI’s Zeus VPP platform for its AI-driven multimarket optimisation, automated trading capabilities, and proven experience managing BESS market onboarding in the Nordics and Baltics.
Lithuania’s First Commercial BESS in the Balancing Markets
In order to ensure the fastest time to revenue, Capalo AI, in tight cooperation with Green Genius, managed the complete onboarding workflow for the Butrimonys battery park, from Litgrid readiness confirmation testing through to live market participation. This was the first time a BESS asset (excluding Litgrid’s own battery) was brought to the Lithuanian balancing markets, marking an important milestone.
The prequalification process was fully navigated as part of the Capalo Zeus VPP service, ensuring compliance with Litgrid’s technical requirements and minimising time to market.
The Butrimonys project successfully completed all required readiness confirmation tests and began submitting bids into Lithuania’s balancing markets, providing much needed capacity to the Baltic energy system.
Capalo Zeus VPP — Turnkey Solution for Butrimonys
To navigate the complexity of market onboarding, optimisation, and automated trading, Green Genius trusts Capalo Zeus VPP, a comprehensive turnkey platform designed to maximise BESS lifetime value. For the Butrimonys project, Capalo AI delivers:
- Balance Responsible Party (BRP) Service: Acting as BRP towards Litgrid, submitting daily energy schedules and all related reporting.
- Balancing Service Provider (BSP) Service: Managing balancing market access, prequalification processes, data exchange, and bidding workflows with Litgrid.
- Asset Connection Service: Ensuring real-time communication and power management between the battery asset, power plant controller and the trading platform.
- AI-Driven Trading and Optimisation: Maximising lifetime revenue and operational efficiency across mFRR, aFRR, and Nord Pool wholesale markets as part of the Zeus VPP pool.
- Graphical User Interface & Reporting: Enabling transparency into live trading operations and performance.
Capalo Zeus VPP ensures optimal asset performance throughout the battery’s lifetime, with real-time, AI-based, fully automated trading. Its ultra-fast intraday trader positions Green Genius to capture volatility-driven revenues and remain competitive as Baltic balancing markets continue to deepen and evolve.
“It has been a real milestone to bring the first BESS asset, together with Green Genius, to the Lithuanian balancing markets in record time. The collaboration has been smooth and it has been an honor contributing to the Baltic grid resilience through this partnership”
— Henri Taskinen, CEO Capalo AI
Outcomes
The Butrimonys battery park achieved first mover advantage by being the first commercial battery storage project to participate in Lithuania’s electricity balancing market, establishing Green Genius as a pioneer in grid-scale storage in the region.
The asset captured revenues averaging 34,000 €/MW/month in its first full four months of trading, achieving returns that are 308% higher than Spot benchmark for the same period*.
Green Genius benefits from automated, AI-driven trading and BESS optimisation, with reporting transparency through the Capalo Zeus VPP dashboard, freeing up time and resources for advancing its core operations and development pipeline.
* Spot benchmark definition: Day-ahead trading based on perfect forecasts, assuming no market saturation, using linear optimization to find the schedule which brings the global maximum revenue, taking into account the cycle limits, round trip efficiency, and battery specifications
Business Impact
