The Ministry of Defense has developed an informative report and published a map in which places in Latvia the construction of wind farms is or is not allowed. Wind farms are a large renewable sector in the common energy market, where potential investments are measured in the amount of more than one billion euros. The largest of them is the joint project of “Latvenergo” and “Latvijas valsts mežu”, which envisages the construction of wind farms with a total capacity of 800 megawatts.
The Ministry of Defense has divided the territory of Latvia for the construction of wind farms into three zones, it foresees that the construction of wind farm infrastructure is not allowed on the border of Russia and Belarus, as well as on the open coast of the Baltic Sea and in the vicinity of military landfills. The construction of all structures with a height of 100 meters or more in the territory of Latvia must be coordinated with the Ministry of Defense. The height of the rotors of wind farm turbines could be 300 meters or more in some places.
Mārtiņš Skraučs, head of the press department of the Ministry of Defense: “By dividing the territory of Latvia into three zones – green, where there are absolutely no restrictions, other coordination is necessary, unless it is provided for by the law on aviation. Yellow zone – where more in-depth negotiations with the Ministry of Defense are required. Red zones – where there is very little chance of getting approval.”
Until today, everyone had the opportunity to participate in the public discussion of the ministry’s informative report. There are several companies in Latvia that are trying to produce green energy, the largest of which is the state-owned “Latvijas vēja parki”, whose planned investments in the coming years could reach more than one billion euros. Chairman of the Board of SIA “Latvijas vēja parki” Jānis Urtāns: “In total, we have eight wind farms, if we look at the territorial division by zones, one park “Balvi-Ludza” falls into the red zone, where most likely no significant activity will take place in the near future. Having already predicted that there could be problems with the development of this area, we had not started any research in this area.”
Eolus, which belongs to the Swedish parent company, is currently planning three parks in the regions of Zemgale and Kurzeme. The illustrative report published by the Ministry of Defense allows the company to better understand the future directions of development. “Eolus wind AB” Baltic manager Inga Āboliņa: “The recently published map and informative report by the Ministry of Defense was to some extent not a surprise in the business of “Eolus”. Because, while developing wind farms, we have been following legislative activities and potential changes for several years. However, the released map is a big surprise. It must be said that it was kept very secret and the opinions of potential developers were not asked. On the one hand, of course, it is understandable, because the protection is with a certain secrecy. We also understand their importance and priority.”
The Ministry of Defense states that the restrictions are necessary so that the National Armed Forces can ensure continuous control of both the airspace and the surveillance of the sea water area, since any larger wind turbine is like a pole that interferes with surveillance radars. Scrouch: “If we are talking about the sea, the coastal areas, then the red zones are such a radius that greatly interferes with construction in the red zones. In the yellow zones, there is already a question of compensations, because a large wind farm would certainly interfere, but there are solutions for that. Solutions, of course, require financial resources, this means purchasing and deploying new radars, but this is certainly negotiable.”
Āboliņa: “Currently, we have current projects in Tukuma region, Talsi region, South Kurzeme region. There, you have to look at the territories separately – both overlapping, yellow and red, Tukuma region is currently colored green. We understand that this is not yet the last option. We look at it very cautiously.”
In the coming months, the Ministry of Defense will evaluate the submitted proposals, however, it is unlikely that there will be much concession to the businessmen’s ideas, as national defense is an absolute priority.
