Gren Group plans to invest EUR 200 million into Latvia by the year 2029. This includes investment into the creation of a regeneration power plant in Acone, said Gren Group business manager in Latvia Andris Vanags at a press-conference.
The planned regeneration volume in Acone is 150 000 to 200 000 tonnes annually. This can potentially generate electricity for 40 000 households.
Vanags explained the heat output of the power plant will be 50 to 70 MW, and the electric output will be 15 to 20 MW. Sorted waste and waste not eligible to recycling will be used as fuel. This fuel will be sourced locally – in Latvia.
When asked about the choice of area for the construction of the power plant, Vanags said the chosen territory has connections to infrastructure.
Vanags said the project’s planning commenced this year. Soon it is planned to commence environmental impact assessment procedure. After that there will be a public discussion. Once all that is done, development, construction and commissioning of the new power plant will follow, concluding with start of operations in 2029.
The regeneration power plant will be constructed to make sure no smell escapes from it. The flue-gas cleaning system will be used to purify the flue-gases produced during the production process, ensuring significantly lower emissions than allowed by the applicable laws and regulations.
At the same time, the regeneration power plant will be fitted with a constant emission monitoring system to ensure constant control and accessibility of transparent operational indexes for society and controlling institutions.
One benefit of having a regeneration power plant in the area, according to Vanags, is ensuring competitive heating energy prices, new jobs, sustainable use of local resources, and provision of further development of the energy industrial zone.
Vanags also stressed the importance of strengthening energy security and independence, significant reduction of waste in landfills, cleaner environment, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and reduced need for more landfills.
Vanags also said Gren’s regeneration power plant in Acone is the first private investment project does not require additional state or municipal financing.
Vanags explained the heating energy will likely be injected to the network of Rīgas siltums, because the demand for heating energy is high enough on the right bank of Riga to generate each MW of energy efficiently.
Gren Group business manager in Latvia explained that landfills in Latvia continue growing, but their capacity is limited. It can also be seen that the environmental system policy is moving towards a faster reduction of waste going to landfills.
Currently 45-50% or 300 000 to 400 000 tonnes of waste generated by households every year is stored in landfills.
“The volume of energy that remains idle, stored in Latvian landfills is equal to 1 TWh, which is worth approximately EUR 20 million,” said Vanags.
Ilkka Niiranen, Managing Director of Green Group, explains that there are approximately 500 waste regeneration power plants in Europe. They help reduce the volume of waste in landfills.
Niiranen stressed regeneration is a major opportunity for Latvia, because it is one of the last countries in the EU in which waste regeneration is not used.
Gren Group wants to perform investments that would benefit society. The company believes the planned investments will help improve Latvia’s energy security and reduce the use of fossil fuels, said Niiranen.
Gren develops and offers energy solutions for sustainable district heating and cooling, renewable and industrial energy services. Gren currently works in Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Sweden and the United Kingdom.