A total of 4 796 GWh of electricity was produced in Latvia last year, which is 14.5% less when compared with 2021, according to the electricity market outlook prepared by AS Augstsprieguma tīkls (AST).
Daugava hydro power plant (HES) produced 2 653 GWh of electricity, which is 1.3% more when compared with the year prior. Smaller hydro power plants have managed to up their production output by 13.3% – to 77 678 MWh of electricity.
Latvian thermal power plants produced 1 216 GWh of electricity – 36.9% less when compared with 2021.
As for biomass power plants: they produced 344 055 MWh of electricity in 2022, which is 5.9% less when compared with the year prior; CHP plants produced 73 260 MWh of electricity (67.5% less); biogas power plants produced 237 283 MWh of electricity (9.4% less).
Wind turbine parks produced 188 364 MWh of electricity last year, which is 34.5% more when compared with 2021. Solar power farms produced a total of 5 262 MWh of electricity (2.2 times more than before).
Electricity consumption in Latvia reached 7 106 GWh in 2022,
which is 3.7% less when compared with 2021.
In the December 2022 Latvia produced 637 545 MWh of electricity, which is 29% more when compared with the same month of 2021. Electricity consumption last month reached 661 048 MWh, which is 11% more when compared with December of 2021.
The electricity market outlook mentions that as consumption and production went down, imports of electricity went up in 2022. Latvia imported 2 311 GWh of electricity from neighbouring countries, which is 30.4% more when compared with 2021. This means locally generated electricity is enough to cover Latvia’s consumption needs by 67.5%, which, when compared with the year prior, is a drop by 8.52 percentage points.
It is also mentioned that the volume of generated electricity has increased in the renewable energy sector and has went down in the fossil fuel sector. Changes to the generation structure is due to high gas price. This is why large CHP plants functioned at a minimal capacity. There was also the difficulty connecting new wind and solar power plants to the power network.
Last year there was a significant rise of electricity prices in Latvia and Europe. New peaks were reached each summer month. After the record in August, when average electricity price reached 467.75 EUR/MWh and the peak electricity price of 4 000 EUR/MWh recorded in the evening on the 17th of August, prices finally started going down.
The average electricity price in Latvia reached 226.91 EUR/MWh in 2022. When compared with the year prior, it is an increase of 2.6 times.
The sharp surge of prices was caused by multiple factors – mainly the reaction to the Russian-Ukrainian war. Concerns about resource sufficiency for the upcoming winter season also contributed, causing the gas price to leap in Europe during summer months.
Prices were also affected by the decision by Baltic States and Finland to reject imports of electricity from Russia and Belarus. The hot weather in Europe, which caused flooding in hydro power plant reservoirs in Scandinavia and high power consumption for cooling purposes were also factors that affected prices.
Imports of electricity from Russia and Belarus dropped by 77% when compared with 2021, reaching only 1 095 GWh in 2022.
Imports from third countries to Baltic States were replaced with European electricity, increasing the share by 20% and reaching 12 716 GWh. This includes 6 823 GWh imported from Finland (+6%), 4 947 GWh from Sweden (+43%), and 946 GWh from Poland (+39%).
Also read: 60% of respondents in Latvia have reduced electricity consumption