As you may be aware there is an EU funded drive to reduce the reliance on imported gas. This means that the governments of both Latvia and Lithuania have created attractive environments for companies who have renewable technologies or who wish to invest in renewable energy plants.
Latvia:
- Latvia has recently announced that it is to increase its renewable energy targets substantially, and aim to generate almost 55% of all their electricity needs by the end of 2010. The government has also announced a number of incentives to encourage foreign companies to invest in the development of renewable energy plants to help them reach this target. The government has highlighted Biogas, Biomass and Wind as the preferred methods, and as a result we believe there are good opportunities for companies and consultancies with experience in this area.
- The Latvian government is also announcing a further programme to replace municipal gas powered power stations with renewable (mainly biomass) plants. Again there is substantial EU funding to support this activity.
- There is also to be two 500,000 euro programme of support for making homes and municipal buildings more energy efficient, which is currently being elaborated, and will be announced in the next 3 or 4 weeks.
- R&D; There is up to £500,000 available to support companies who are conducting product development, environmental companies are especially attractive and likely to attract support (we have already helped one UK company access a substantial grant to support R&D activity)
Lithuania
- The Igliana Nuclear power plant will be decommissioned at the end of this year; as a result Lithuania needs to increase its energy generation capabilities quickly. The government has announced a range of initiatives to support the development of alternative power sources.
- There is substantial structural funding available to support projects in the renewable sector, and as a result we believe that there will be excellent opportunities for UK consultants to get involved in a range of projects.
- A number of Lithuanian environmental and renewable companies are now beginning to win EU and World Bank funded work in Russia and other CIS markets. In order to go for bigger tenders they need to bring on board partners from Western Europe who may have experience of bigger projects.
In both markets there is some very interesting research being done in the renewable areas, and a number of Baltic companies with innovative companies are also looking for potential distribution partners in the UK and other markets
If you are interested in further information on these opportunities or would like a more detailed overview please contact anastasia@ccbaltic.eu.