Latvia’s largest battery energy storage system unveiled

On November 1 Latvia’s largest wind energy producer Utilitas Wind opened the first utility-scale battery energy storage battery system in Latvia with a total power of 10 MW and capacity of 20 MWh in Targale, Ventspils region. This autumn, the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will be connected to the Latvian electricity transmission system, contributing. The total project investments amount to €7 million.

“This is a historic moment in Latvia’s modern energy sector. We have been actively working on this project for two years and are proud to contribute to strengthening Latvia’s energy security. We are ready to continue our contribution to the development of the energy supply system in line with future challenges,” says Renārs Urbanovičs, Member of the Board of Utilitas Wind SIA. 

The largest energy storage battery system will provide energy storage 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 container and one distribution point container, providing a total electric capacity of up to 20 MWh. To get a better idea of the amount of energy stored, this is enough to power one electric car for 115 000 km, one household washing machine for 19 000 washing cycles or supply almost 3 000 households for one day.

“Alternative sources of electricity generation such as wind and solar are weather-dependent. If there are strong winds in a particular period, this is likely to be the case across 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,” comments Renārs Urbanovičs.

“The development and connection of the first electricity storage battery system of this scale to the transmission system is a major milestone, which we hope will soon be followed by other projects. These types of systems have a high potential to provide the balancing capacities required by Augstsprieguma grid in the future by participating in balancing capacity markets and ensuring optimal balancing costs for all system participants. Combining batteries with wind or solar power generation also promotes efficient use of transmission infrastructure, which benefits all system users in the long term,” said Rolands Irklis, Chairman of the Board of Augstsprieguma tīkls AS (AST).

This event is also particularly important in the context of the Baltic States’ ambitious project to synchronise the Baltic electricity system with the European grid, which is being implemented to decouple the Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian electricity systems from Russia and Belarus. The project foresees that the Baltic States will be connected to the European grid on 9 February 2025, thereby reducing security of supply risks and levelling electricity prices in the economic point of view, from the point of view of achieving “green goals”, and from the security point of view.

The construction of the electricity storage battery system at the Targale wind park is a step towards the development of the frequency market in the region. “Such hybrid parks, combining different forms of renewable energy generation, will become common practice in the future, ensuring a stable, minimally weather-dependent energy supply. I am pleased that the bar has been set high for developers of new wind farms, which also plays an important role in the context of Latvia’s energy security,” said Climate and Energy Minister of Latvia, Kaspars Melnis.

Given the total investment in the project, the OP Corporate Bank provided loan financing. “We are pleased to be able to finance a project that is of strategic importance not only for the client, but for the entire energy sector, as the installed energy storage system will provide the necessary capacity in the Baltic balancing reserve market, which will be particularly important as the Baltic countries disconnect from the BRELL grid. It is important to mention that we started our cooperation with the company already in 2021, when the construction of the wind park “Tārgale” was launched with our “green” co-financing, so we are really happy to continue supporting the company in its development and growth,” says Elmārs Prikšāns, Head of the Latvian branch of OP Corporate Bank plc.