At the end of March, Tukums municipality Council decided to reject the plan to build the Pienava wind farm, thus also rejecting an investments of at least 100 million euros, jobs for wind farm construction workers and a more sustainable state energy policy. One can’t help but feeling that a well-conceived and well-founded business idea is turning into a political farce, despite the support of the responsible authorities and the general public.
Support from institutions and business organizations
The municipality has taken its position to vote against the wind farm with vague arguments, while on the other side stands an investor with a guaranteed investment, a clear, transparent vision, expert opinions and an environmental impact assessment approved by the State Environmental Bureau. Business organizations for the likes of LIAA and Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) are also ringing the alarm bell on the potential loss of hundreds of millions of investments. Unfortunately, this is not the first case that large-scale investment projects have failed due to the fear of unknown of local government and residents. Every rejected project means millions are lost, which ads up to a billion over years.
The negative attitude from local governments and the lack of motivation is one of the reasons why Latvia’s lagging behind its neighboring countries in terms of attracting foreign direct investment. Wind energy usually means a high share of capital costs, therefore it is very important to attract long-term investors. It’s only possible in a country with a stable investment environment. Every unreasonable rejection of investment creates insecurity in investors and may also deter investments from other sectors in Latvia.
On a wider scale, the rejection of the wind farm projects is detrimental to society, as they would not only increase the amount of money in the state budget but also reduce electricity price. Additionally every wind energy project creates jobs – up to 25% (EUR 25-37 million) of the total project costs are allocated to construction works that will require the involvement of local contractors.
Unreasonable doubt by local governments
The decision on rejection of Pienava wind farm shows the misinformation of local governments. They seem to choose not to consider and explain to the population the benefits of wind energy including long-term benefits to the general public. They’d rather make decisions that are easier. Building a wind farm requires large material investments, hence it is often necessary to invest at the regional level. Latvia has great potential to become a wind energy superpower in the future, generating energy both for domestic consumption and export. Moreover, the timing is right to attract investments to implement such projects, given the greening of Europe context.
However, for this to happen, a broader understanding of wind energy is needed among general public, entrepreneurs and local authorities, as well as the notion of the potential of renewable energy resources and Latvia’s potential contribution in this area. The Latvian Wind Energy Association will continue playing its role in educating authorities and the public by providing an opportunity to get involved in seminars, conferences, lectures on climate change mitigation, greenhouse gas reduction, use of renewable energy resources and wind energy in Latvia. However, in the meantime it is extremely important to change our view on guaranteed investment in order to fully benefit from the wind energy also in practice, not only theory.
The benefits of wind energy are obvious
When it comes to wind energy statistics, 78.5% of the Latvian population believe that wind energy generation causes very little or almost no damage to the nature, according to the survey conducted last year. Wind energy is and will be one of the cheapest forms of renewable energy production. The development of wind projects will have to start at some point and hopefully we will get to this point soon when wind turbines are perceived as a common feature in the Latvian landscape. The climate in Latvia is nothing but perfect for wind generation. The Scandinavian countries have already embraced wind energy and are exploiting the potential of it to the maximum. Our closest neighboring countries are also heavily investing in wind energy development. With significant changes in the types of electricity generation, additional electricity capacity is needed in the Baltic market in order to stabilize the security of the energy system and promote energy independence.
Greening of the energy generated is particularly important for achieving environmental sustainability goals. Wind is an inexhaustible free resource, while energy production does not emit greenhouse gases or other harmful substances. The CO2 footprint of wind electricity is compensated for within the first 6 months of operation of a wind turbine. After that the production of clean energy will last for several decades. In addition to the fact that wind energy is environmentally and human health-friendly, its technological development over the last 15 years has ensures the cheapest renewable energy in Latvia, which is why the development of this sector should be important for every Latvian resident and entrepreneur.
