Half of Latvia's electricity in 2021 came from CHP plants

Take note – story published 1 year ago

Latest data published May 24 by the Central Statistical Bureau show that 2 990.2 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity were produced in combined heat and power (CHP) plants in 2021, which is 50.1 GWh or 2 % more than in 2020.

The electricity produced by CHP plants has constituted more than half of the total electricity produced in the country for the past ten years (except for 2012 and 2017), and in 2021 the share reached 51 %.

Compared to 2020, last year the amount of heat produced in CHP plants grew by 13 %, reaching 5 688.9 GWh or 66 % of the total amount of heat produced in Latvia (8 677.3 GWh). The upturn in the heat production may be explained by lower mean air temperature during the heating season.

Over the past ten years, the share of electrical capacity in CHP plants fuelled by fossil fuels has reduced, while that in CHP plants fuelled by renewable energy sources has increased. The most notable increase in the electrical capacity of CHP plants using renewables was observed in 2012 and 2013 (of 80.2 MW). Between 2013 and 2021 the share of electrical capacity in CHP plants running on renewables varied between 9–12 % of the total electrical capacity of CHP plants. Compared to the year before, in 2021 electrical capacity of CHP plants using renewables dropped by 4.5 MW and constituted 151.8 MW.

Last year, similar to the amount produced in 2020, 861.8 GWh of electricity were produced in plants using renewables, however production of electricity in CHP plants has gone up three times over the past ten years. The rise in the amount of electricity produced in CHP plants fuelled by renewables is facilitated by state aid.

In 2021, the amount of electricity produced in CHP plants using renewables accounted for 23 % of the national electricity generated from renewables (15 % were generated in biomass CHP plants and 8 % in biogas CHP plants).

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Latvia aims5 at reaching 50 % of renewable energy in gross final consumption of energy and reducing Latvian energy dependency upon imports of energy resources by 2030. Share of renewable energy in Latvian final energy consumption accounted for 42.13 % in 2020.

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