Latvia is a net energy importer. Primary energy use in Latvia was 49 TWh, or 22 TWh per million persons in 2009.[1] In 2018, electricity consumption per capita was 3731 kWh.[2]
Latvia has adopted the EU target to produce 50% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030.[3]
Production capacities for electricity (billion kWh)
Type
Amount
Hydro
12.85
Fossil fuel
9.04
Biomass
4.30
Wind power
0.86591
Solar
0.02706
Total
27.08
Electricity (billion kWh)
Category
Amount
Consumption
6.71
Production
5.46
Import
4.17
Export
2.55
Crude Oil (barrels per day)
Consumption
39,900
Production
1,600
Natural Gas (billion m3)
Consumption
1.07
Import
1.07
CO2 emissions: 6.93 million tons
Energy plan
The 2021-30 plan set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 65% compared to 1990.[5] There is a target of being carbon neutral by 2050.
Fuel types
Fossil fuel
Natural Gas
From 1 January 2023 Latvia banned the import of natural gas from Russia. The replacement comes from connections to LNG terminals, the Klaipėda LNG terminal in Lithuania, and from 2024 the recently-opened Inkoo LNG terminal in Finland.[6]
JSC Conexus Baltic Grid is the natural gas transmission system operator in Latvia. International transmission pipelines are 577 km long, consisting of the Riga–Pahneva, Pleskava–Riga, Izborska–Inčukalns UGS, Riga–Inčukalns UGS I - line, Riga–Inčukalns UGS II - line, Vireši–Tallinn pipelines. The total length of regional transmission pipelines is 613 km.[7]
Latvia has underground gas storage facilities at the Inčukalns UGS, with a capacity of 4.47 billion m3.[8]
Renewable energy includes wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources.
Almost half of the electricity used in the country is provided by renewable energy sources. The main renewable resource is hydroelectric power. Latvia has laws that regulate the building of power plants and plans to sell electricity at higher prices. This is a stimulus for investment, especially taking into consideration the fact that Latvia cannot offer big subsidies in order to attract investment. A production quota is approved for each renewable energy source every year.
The share of renewable energy in the gross final energy consumption in 2021 in Latvia was 42.1%, thanks to strong hydroelectric power.[9]
Wind power
In 2021 Latvia had just 66 MW of wind energy capacity, with no wind farms being built since 2012.[10]
In 2022 a wind farm is in the initial planning stage to be located in the Gulf of Riga, Latvia having rejected the idea of working with Estonia on a nearby project, the new plan is expected to supply 1 GW of clean wind energy, which would translate to 3 TWh (Terawatt-hours) of renewable energy.[11]
Solar power
2023 will see the first two solar parks being completed in Latvia.[12]
Biomass
Biomass provides over 10% of Latvia's electricity production capacity.
Hydro power
Hydro is an important power source in Latvia, Ķegums Hydroelectric Power Station is the oldest hydro power station in the country, built in 1940.
Electricity
It was agreed in 2018 that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania would connect to the European Union's electricity system and desynchronize from the Russian BRELL power system. This is expected to be completed by February 2025.[13] An interconnector linking Lithuania with Poland is to be built, called the Harmony Link Interconnector, which will be important on harmonising the system.[14]
A back up plan, should Russia disconnect the Baltic states before 2025, would enable a connection to the European grid to be completed within 24 hours.[15]
