The largest solar energy park in Latvia has been opened in the Vārme parish of Kuldīga region. It is also the first such project connected to the Latvian high-voltage electricity transmission network, reports Skrunda Television.

A symbolic gift – a piece of an overhead line that was disconnected from Russia’s energy system earlier this year – was presented to the Lithuanian-registered company “Ignitis Renewables”, which has opened the Vārme facility.

The total capacity of the park is 94 megawatts and it is located on a 110-hectare territory in Kuldīga region, where more than 156,000 solar panels have been installed.

The total investment in the project, including asset acquisition and construction costs, amounts to approximately 66 million euros.

More than 10 such solar parks, which are currently being developed, will be connected to the high-voltage transmission network in the coming years, but Vārme is the first to be connected.

Currently, the amount of energy produced from the sun in Latvia is approximately 1,000 megawatts. In sunny weather, this is almost half of the electricity needed, according to the Ministry of Climate and Energy.

Industry experts emphasize that market saturation point is gradually being reached, and focus should be placed on other types of production and storage systems.

Jānis Irbe, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Climate and Energy, pointed out that “by developing storage systems, we, as a state, are promoting these processes. But at the moment, of course, we are not talking about any support programs, none are planned.”

“The biggest moment for developing such projects is now. It is possible that in the coming years we may not see such a big breakthrough in solar energy production capacity. Developers will probably think more about hybrid parks and storage systems,” the ministry representative said.

“As electricity production expands in the region, we are observing a decrease in electricity prices in the long term, which is positive news for both Latvian residents and businesses,” Irbe said at the opening event.

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