Latvia far behind other Baltic States wind power production-wise

«Unfortunately, Latvia is far behind the leading European countries and its closest neighbours in terms of using wind power – Estonia’s wind production output exceeds Latvia’s 4.5 times, and Lithuania’s output exceeds its northern neighbour’s output 7.2 times,» says Wind Energy Association board member Toms Naburgs.

Last year, Latvia produced 68 MW of wind energy, putting it on the 62^nd place in the world, dropping from the 59^th place the previous year. Guatemala, Switzerland and Jamaica are already ahead of Latvia, according to information from the Global Wind Energy Association’s industry overview for last year.
 

According to this overview, China reached the highest wind energy output last year – 168,730 MW. USA follows next with 82,033 MW and Germany with 50,019 MW. Wind energy production-wise, Latvia is currently behind its Baltic neighbours – Estonia had produced 310 MW and Lithuania had produced 493 MW of wind energy last year, according to data from the Wind Energy Association.
 

Last year, approximately 11.8% more wind energy was produced when compared with the previous year. No increase was noted in Latvia, however.
 

Growth in Estonia was 2.3%, whereas Lithuania’s growth was 16.2%. In Europe, the biggest growth in this sector was noted in Finland, where production output growth was 53.1%.
 

«We know there had been stable wind energy output growth around the world. This was mostly thanks to the fact that wind energy is more economical,» says Naburgs.
 

He says Latvia’s wind energy industry looks to the next couple of years with hope, because the government action plan and Energy Law will have a new support mechanism for renewable energy sources before the end of the year. «It will provide a positive signal for wind energy industry in Latvia,» Naburgs continues.

BNN

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