Solar energy production tripled in Latvia over past year

The amount of solar electricity produced and transferred to the grid in Latvia has tripled over the past year, according to the electricity market review prepared by the Latvian transmission system operator JSC “High Voltage Network” (Augstsprieguma tīkls, AST) on September 25.

In August, 237 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity were produced and transferred to the network in Latvia, which is 61% more than in July. Solar and wind generation accounted for 14 percent of the total amount of electricity transferred to the grid, rising 77 percent against August 2022. However, the amount of electricity transferred to the solar electricity network has almost tripled in one year.

In August, the average monthly electricity price in Latvia reached a three-digit figure for the first time since February, stopping at 102.49 EUR per megawatt hour (EUR/MWh), which is 22% more than in July.

Meanwhile, against the record high of August 2022, the price is 356 percent lower this year.

The price of electricity in the Baltics was significantly influenced by the price jump in Finland caused by a set of circumstances – planned and unplanned power plant and transmission line outages, especially on August 21, when 3,369 MW of the country's total production capacity was not available, as well as 2500 MW of transmission capacity for electricity imports.

Due to the lack of availability of Finnish electricity, which was replaced by that produced in Latvia, between 21 and 24 August, congestion was observed in the direction from Latvia to Estonia, when prices in Estonia were higher than electricity prices in the Latvian zone, although on average the monthly Estonian price was lower.

In total, 43% of electricity consumed in Latvia was produced and transferred to the network in August, but the rest 310 GWh of electricity, which is 15% less than in July, was imported from neighboring countries – Lithuania and Estonia.

Source: Press release (www.eng.lsm.lv)
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