The battery energy storage system (BESS) will be connected to the Latvian electricity transmission system this autumn.
The total investment in the project amounts to €7 million. The project has been financed by OP Corporate Bank.
Utilitas Wind has been working on the energy storage battery system project for two years. According to Urbanovičs, the battery system will store energy to transfer the generated electricity to users when there is a shortage in the electricity system.
The battery system includes six battery containers, three inverter/transformer containers, and one distribution point container, providing a total electricity capacity of up to 20 MWh. This would be enough to power one electric car for 115,000 km, one household washing machine for 19,000 wash cycles or nearly 3,000 households for one day, Utilitas Wind said.
"Alternative sources of electricity generation such as wind and solar are weather-dependent. If there is strong wind during a particular period, this is likely to be the case throughout the region. This results in a surplus of electricity generated. The opposite is true when there is no wind, when there is a shortfall, but the system we have in place gives us a great advantage - the ability to store 'excess' electricity to make up for when there is a shortfall," said Urbanovičs.
Minister of Economy Viktors Valainis (Greens and Farmers Union), said:
"It is essential to build enough new green energy capacity to be able to have full confidence in the ability of our energy systems to function smoothly after the planned disconnection from the Russian BRELL ring early next year. We are clearly moving in the right direction."
Utilitas Wind is part of the Estonian energy company OÜ Utilitas. OÜ Utilitas Group develops and manages wind farms in all three Baltic countries and has invested €70 million in the development of the Targale wind farm. Utilitas Wind has an installed capacity of 78.8 MW in Latvia from autumn 2022, generating 171 000 MWh of electricity in 2023, enough to cover the electricity consumption of 56 000 households. In early 2024, Latvenergo AS acquired the Telšiai wind farm project in Lithuania, with a capacity of 124MW, built by Utilitas Wind Ltd.
