Four information meetings have been held with the residents of the municipality to explain the objectives of the project. Some residents are against the project, fearing the impact on their health and also the fall in property values.
Representatives of the company "Gren" were strongly reproached during the meetings with the residents. The company's representatives said they had counted on such opposition and planned to convince the public of the need for the project, together with the opinions of the State Environmental Monitoring Office.
Andris Vanags, the CEO of Gren Latvija Ltd, said: "We plan to use 200 thousand tonnes of fuel derived from waste or low-quality biomass. This has environmental benefits - we reduce the volume of waste in the landfill, and it benefits the heat customers, which in this case are the residents of Riga city and the companies that receive district heating."
The company plans to submit an application to the State Environmental Monitoring Bureau in the next few weeks.
The head of Gren Latvija noted that the issues that will be discussed in the Parliament, i.e. the national waste targets, what we have now, what we have in the long term - all these issues will be discussed again. And as a result, we will not make the decision to build or not to build, but before that, we need the opinion of the bureau, and the bureau will be the body that will take into account our information, the expert's calculations, and the opinion of the citizens."
Meanwhile, residents from both Salaspils and Ropazi have already expressed their rejection by collecting signatures against the project. The residents who were consulted said:
"People have risks, and they are justified - both in terms of health, of course, but also in terms of real estate - the value of which will of course fall."
"Everybody is silent on what the point is, what the benefit is for the population. There is no benefit for us as citizens, only losses."
"Here is a business project, it is ruthless. This is a fight for cheap fuel, which will be burned in the houses next to us outside our windows."
If allowed, construction would start next year, with the plant operational in 2029. The project will cost a total of €200 million.
