Last week, Latvenergo CEO Aris Zigurs explained Latvia’s position to the reporters invited from Lithuania and Estonia. He said that Latvia had already sent to the Lithuanian government a proposal to contribute to the VAE project with approximately 1 billion litas (EUR 289.85 million) and to seek for a 275 MW share out of facility’s planned 1,348 MW capacity in exchange.
“VAE could become a solid part of electricity portfolio generation in all three Baltic countries, since large gaps emerged in the energy sectors of both Latvia and Estonia, and in particular Lithuania, after the shutdown of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant,” Zigurs said.
Maris Kunickis, an executive member of Latvenergo’s board, told the daily that the VAE was part of Latvenergo’s electricity strategy for the nearest 15-20 years. That strategy aimed at ensuring the balance in the country’s electricity provision. Now Latvia, which generates more than half of its electricity at its hydropower plants, is EU's second country - only lagging behind Austria (64 percent) - in terms of electricity generated without using fossil fuel (57 percent).
Latvia’s annual electricity demand had made up some 2 terawatt-hours in recent years and the country had to sell some of its electricity and to buy some volumes due to seasonal nature of hydropower plants’ operations, Dzintars Ostanevics, head of the Plavinas hydro-electric power plant, said. That was why the Latvians needed the VAE, he added.
According to Kunickis, hydropower plants generate larger volumes of electricity in spring and in fall, and then the country sells more electricity on the market.
