IN Brief:
- Latvenergo is seeking wind or hybrid projects with combined capacity of up to 250MW.
- PwC will manage the evaluation of construction-ready projects and operating wind farms with turbines no more than five years old.
- The acquisitions form part of a wider strategy to add 2,300MW while diversifying the utility's Baltic generation portfolio.
Latvenergo is evaluating the acquisition of wind and hybrid generation projects totalling up to 250MW as it expands its renewable portfolio across the Baltic states. PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed to manage project selection and evaluation, with both construction-ready developments and recently commissioned wind farms eligible for consideration.
The acquisition programme forms part of Latvenergo’s medium-term strategy to add 2,300MW of generating capacity and broaden a portfolio built around hydroelectric, thermal, solar, and increasingly wind generation. The company will consider individual wind projects as well as hybrid developments combining more than one energy technology.
Operating wind farms are eligible where the turbines are no more than five years old, giving Latvenergo a route to acquire generating assets without waiting through the full development and construction cycle. Construction-ready schemes offer a different risk profile, allowing the utility to enter before equipment procurement and execution are complete.
PwC will act as independent adviser, handling project selection, evaluation, confidential information, and contact with owners whose assets could progress towards acquisition discussions. Latvenergo has not identified individual targets or set a timetable for completing transactions, so the 250MW figure remains an acquisition envelope rather than committed capacity.
The utility already owns the 19.6MW Akmenė wind farm and the 124MW Telšiai wind project in Lithuania. In Latvia, its portfolio includes the 109MW Laflora Energy wind farm and the 147MW Pienava Wind project, while the Priekule hybrid park combines wind, solar, and battery storage.
Latvenergo has also brought substantial solar capacity into its generation mix, including the 265MW Aizpute photovoltaic park and other developments across Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Additional wind would diversify the production profile of a renewable portfolio that has expanded rapidly through solar.
Wind and photovoltaic generation rarely reach peak output at identical times, while battery storage can move a portion of production between periods. Combining those technologies under a single owner can therefore produce a more varied generation profile and increase the range of operating decisions available across the portfolio.
Hybrid sites can also make greater use of a shared grid connection where technologies have complementary output patterns. An export connection sized below the combined nameplate capacity of every asset may still accommodate more annual generation if wind, solar, and storage are coordinated through a plant controller.
That arrangement brings additional engineering requirements. Protection settings, metering, forecasting, battery state of charge, export limits, and plant-level dispatch must be coordinated so that different technologies operate within the same network agreement. The commercial benefit depends heavily on those connection terms rather than installed megawatts alone.
The option to buy operating wind farms places more emphasis on technical due diligence than development work. Turbine availability, gearbox and generator condition, blade inspections, service agreements, warranties, historic production, grid compliance, land rights, and remaining component life can materially alter the value of a relatively young project.
Construction-ready assets carry another set of risks. Planning and land rights may already be advanced, but the buyer must still manage turbine selection, balance-of-plant contracts, financing, civil works, electrical infrastructure, and commissioning. Grid capacity and equipment lead times can remain material constraints even after a project is described as ready to build.
Latvenergo’s existing hydropower portfolio gives the company another source of flexibility as variable renewable output increases. Hydro, wind, solar, thermal generation, and battery storage respond differently to weather, demand, and market signals, giving a diversified fleet more options than an expansion concentrated in one generation technology.
The acquisition process offers two routes towards the company’s 2,300MW expansion objective: buying renewable output already operating on the system or acquiring projects sufficiently mature to enter construction without an extended development phase. The eventual balance will depend on asset pricing and the technical quality of the projects offered for sale.
The next substantive milestone will be the emergence of named acquisition targets or binding transactions. Until then, the 250MW search provides a clear indication of Latvenergo’s appetite for additional wind and hybrid generation, while leaving the final mix to the grid connections, equipment condition, project maturity, and commercial terms uncovered during due diligence.
