Ways to promote "green" energy should be found after scrapping MPC – economics minister

RIGA – After the mandatory purchase component (MPC) on electricity is liquidated, Latvia will have to decide how to promote "green" energy, said Economics Minister Ralfs Nemiro (KPV LV) in an interview with LETA.

The minister said that there are many ways to promote "green" energy, but he has no detailed plan as yet. One of the ways is to assess which energy should be supported as a priority, for example, wind energy.

"In Lithuania there is broad support to wind energy, but in Latvia it is the smallest in the Baltic states," he said.

Asked about the public resistance to the wish of investors to develop wind parks in Latvia, Nemiro said that there are just four locations in Latvia where it is worth developing wind energy parks and there are not many residential regions near these places. "Investors have proposed to build wind parks in the see, where there is no harm to residents, but the main questions is economic feasibility," he said.

Latvian Wind Power Association's board member Toms Naburgs said earlier that all the preconditions are in place in Latvia for wind energy production, but the wind power industry's development in Latvia is hampered by a lack of political vision.

"Wind resource is very good all across Latvia," said Naburgs, adding that practically the entire Kurzeme province met the requirements for wind energy production. Furthermore, wind resource is sufficient in all of the country at the height of 100 meters.

The main problem in Latvia is a lack of regulatory framework, which hampers normal development of the industry - there is no clear energy policy, there is no vision of Latvian energy policy development, said Naburgs. Which means that businessmen cannot move forward if they do not know what the government is planning.