RES consumption decreased by 1.3 % in 2020

Data compiled by the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) show that in 2020, gross consumption of renewable energy sources (RES) in Latvia amounted to 74.2 petajoules (PJ). Compared to the previous year, RES consumption in 2020 was 1.3 % or by 1 PJ lower, which can be attributed to the decrease in gross energy consumption.

The share of fuelwood in the total RES consumption in 2020 was 78.8 % (in 2019 – 82.2 %). The share of electricity consumption was 13.5 %. The share of biogas in total consumption in 2020 was unchanged (4.6%). The share of biofuel and other energy consumption was 2.8% and 0.3%, respectively.

Gross consumption of fuelwood over five years (2016 - 2020) increased by 7.8% (by 4.2 PJ) and reached 58.5 PJ in 2020 but compared to 2019 decreased by 5.5 % (by 3.4 PJ).  Last year, 40.4 PJ of pelleted wood were exported, which is 3.3 % or 1.3 PJ more than in 2019. Exports of pelleted wood have increased by 38 % over the last five years, driven by the availability of raw materials and the global trend to increase the consumption of renewable energy sources.

Transformation sector is the main consumer of fuelwood¹ – in 2020, fuelwood consumption in transformation sector amounted to 36.4 % of the gross fuelwood consumption. Over the period of five years (2016 - 2020) fuelwood consumption in the transformation sector has increased by 16.4 % (by 3 PJ). In turn, in the transformation sector, the heat energy produced from solar collectors in 2020 was 11 GWh or 40 TJ.

There are changes in the choice of fuelwood types in households, where, in 2015, pelleted wood were consumed more than briquettes, whereas in 2020, on the contrary, the consumption of pelleted wood decreased by 10.6 % (by 217 TJ), but the consumption of briquettes increased by 18.1 %. (about 68 TJ). At the same time, the consumption of firewood in households remained unchanged from 2015 to 2020, decreasing by only 0.2 % (by 27 TJ). The largest consumption of fuelwood in industry and construction was in the wood and wood products industry, consuming 14.5 PJ or 91.4 % of the gross consumption of fuelwood in industry and construction in 2020.

Compared to 2019, last year the consumption of biofuels in transport was 29.1 % (by 0.4 PJ) higher, and in 2020 it was 1.9 PJ, which was affected by changes in legislation - increasing the minimum biofuel blend for diesel from 5 % to 7 % and for petrol No 95 - from 5 % to 10 %. In turn, in five years (2016–2020), the consumption of biofuels in transport has increased 4.4 times (by 1.5 PJ).

Electricity consumption in transport in 2020 was 339 TJ, that is 6.6 % (by 24 TJ) less than in 2019, which was affected by the decrease in consumption in rail and pipeline transport. In 2020, due to the restrictions imposed by Covid- 19, temporarily cancelled train journeys affected the reduction of electricity consumption in railway transport by 7.4 % (by 18 TJ) compared to the previous year. There was also a decrease in electricity consumption in pipeline transport - in 2020 by 34.8 % (by 8 TJ) less than in 2019. In turn, consumption in road transport in 2020 was 2.1 % (by 2 TJ) higher than in the previous year.

Electricity produced in hydro power plants has increased by 495 GWh

In 2020, 5 725 GWh of electricity was generated in Latvia, of which 3 650 GWh was RES, and compared to 2019, the volume generated from RES increased by 14.3 % (by 457 GWh). Last year, the primary electricity production in hydro power plants increased significantly - 2 603 GWh, which is by 23.5 % or 495 GWh more than in 2019. In 2020, wind power plants produced 177 GWh, which is 14.9 % or 23 GWh more electricity, and solar power plants - 5 GWh electricity, which is 66.7 % (2 GWh) more than a year earlier.

Last year, CHP plants produced 2 940 GWh of electricity, of which 29.4 % from RES (biogas and biomass CHP plants), which was 7.2 percentage points more than in 2019. Compared to the previous year, in 2020 the electricity produced in biomass power plants and CHP plants decreased from 575 GWh to 520 GWh (by 9.6 %) and in biogas CHP plants from 353 GWh to 345 GWh (by 2.3 %).

The target set for Latvia for the share of energy produced from RES in the gross final energy consumption in 2020 is 40 %. In 2019, Latvia had the third highest share of RES (40,97 %)² in energy consumption in the European Union (EU) after Sweden (56.4 %) and Finland (43.1 %). The average in EU³ was 19.7 %.

In 2020, each EU Member State must ensure that energy produced from RES (biofuels, biogas, electricity produced from RES and consumed in transport) accounts for at least 10 % of final energy consumption in transport (5.1 % in Latvia in 2019)². In turn, the share of RES for heating in 2019 was 57.8 %, which is the second highest indicator for heating after Sweden (66.1 %) among all EU Member States. In the EU³ renewable energy accounted for 22.1% of total energy used for heating and cooling.

Methodological explanations

¹Transformation sector includes the volume of energy resources consumed for production and sale of electricity and heat, as well as production of peat briquettes and charcoal.
²programme „SHARES” elaborated by Eurostat is used for calculations
³Average indicators of the European Union Member States on 27 EU Member States.

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More information on data:
Sintija Ancāne
Environment and Energy Statistics Section
E-mail: Sintija.Ancane@csp.gov.lv
Phone: +371 67366256