Are district heating and green transition on the right track in Latvia and Estonia?
By Pia Zimmermann
After an intensive tour to Latvia and Estonia for the Danish district heating sector this week – it seems the answer is YES! DBDH and the Danish Embassy in Riga – together with the Latvian and Estonian DH Associations – co-arranged seminars in the two capitals Riga and Tallinn and exciting site visits and meetings with Salaspils Siltums, Latvenergo, Gren Jelgava, and Utilitas Tallinn. Three days with district heating on the agenda and exchanging experience in the sector among the three countries. It was impressive to visit and meet with utilities and see how the green transition is happening and expanding all the time.
Authorities in Estonia and Latvia promote district heating as one of the most efficient options to achieve targets of increased energy efficiency, increased share of renewable energy, and reduction of CO2. Latvia’s National Energy and Climate Plan 2021-2030 aims to increase renewable energy consumption to 50% by 2030. Estonia has more than 200 district heating companies that cover 60% of Estonia’s heat demand. District heating is the most efficient way to produce heat, was the message from the Ministry of Economy during the seminar in Riga.
DBDH members profited from this tour with lots of networking and making new contacts for future cooperation. Thank you to the chairman of DBDH, Jørgen Nielsen for bringing new trends in Danish district heating to the agenda and for active and engaged knowledge sharing and inspiration from Grundfos, Danfoss, Logstor, Kamstrup, Desmi, AalborgCSP, Niras, and Planenergi