Latvia can be proud of its rich forest areas, and most importantly, its location for active forestry as well as for protected areas. Thanks to sustainable and good forest management, in the last 20 years, the stock of wood in forest stands increased by 136 million m3 – not to mention increased forest area by more than 370 thousand ha – with an annual harvesting volume about 13 million m3. Latvian heritage and knowledge of forest management is being passed on to future generations; such that a forest is a place from which we can get renewable raw material for all of our needs, as well as a place of biodiversity.

The forests in Latvia also give Latvians a sense of security and independence in bioenergy, both in terms of resources and economically. There is much anticipation around the transformation being planned for Latvia in the coming decade!

The largest centralised heat supply company in Latvia plans to completely abandon gas by 2030, and instead produce renewable energy from woody biomass. Starting from 2025, installing new gas heating equipment in Riga apartment buildings and private houses will be prohibited. A similar pattern can also be seen in other Latvian municipalities.

Despite the rapid increase in wood pellet and woodchips prices, we can still say that woody biomass is one of the cheapest, most reliable, and renewable energy resources. As Latvian forestry is completely sustainable, the biomass resources in Latvia will not run out.

On Latvia’s National Bioenergy Day, we very much hope that Latvia will continue on the path towards energy independence and clean renewable energy production from woody biomass!