The involvement of AS Latvenergo in the acquisition of shares in the telecom companies SIA Tet and SIA Latvijas mobilais telefons (LMT), currently owned by Swedish telecommunications company Telia, could affect the pace at which investments are made in renewable energy projects, Latvenergo CEO Mārtiņš Čakste acknowledged in an interview with LETA.
“It will most likely impact the speed at which we invest in some of the wind or solar parks. But if our strategy originally planned for 600 megawatts of renewable generation capacity to be built by the end of 2026, right now we are building 1.2 g|igawatts – twice as much. So, we have already exceeded our strategic target and are now at the stage where we must start thinking about security, diversification, and ensuring that these assets deliver the returns we have planned,” Čakste said.
He noted that investments in renewable energy carry risks, including price risks and situations where energy oversupply creates negative prices. Electrification and consumption in the Baltics remain insufficient, so when building renewable capacity, it is also necessary to think about demand and income diversification to ensure profitability in the future.
Čakste pointed out that there is currently a global boom in data centers, which will become some of the largest energy consumers in the future.
“This is a new niche for us, but active development is already happening right across the border
– in Finland, data centers with one gigawatt of consumption are being developed. In the Nordics, all the major cloud service providers (hyperscalers) – Amazon, Microsoft – have already arrived. We are currently building 1.2 gigawatts of new generation capacity, and we must think about who will buy and use this energy in the future. It is important for us that the Baltics become more electrified and that these industries come here as well – but this requires proactive work,” Čakste explained, outlining why Latvenergo is ready to acquire shares in Tet and LMT.
He also rejected the notion that the company was forced into this deal by the state as its shareholder, represented by the Ministry of Economics.
“A shareholder cannot force us. Our green bonds are listed on the stock exchange, which means we follow very strict governance rules. To make such decisions, they must be solely commercially justified. No political influence is possible here. We see that this type of investment could bring us different synergies in the future, as both telecommunications and energy are moving toward technology,” Čakste said.
As reported, Telia has signed a memorandum of understanding with Latvia, Latvenergo, and the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC) on the sale of all its shares in Tet and LMT. The parties aim to sign the final agreement by the end of 2025, with the transaction expected to be completed in the first half of 2026.
Currently, the Latvian state, through SIA Publisko aktīvu pārvaldītājs “Possessor”, owns 51% of Tet, while Telia’s subsidiary Tilts Communications holds 49%. In LMT, Telia and its subsidiary Sonera Holding together own 49%, the Latvian side via LVRTC owns 23%, Tet holds 23%, and Possessor owns 5%.
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