Sunly wins auction of Latvia’s State Forests and continues work on wind park development in Kurzeme
Sunly has achieved a significant milestone in the development of wind parks in Latvia by securing a portion of the auction for the Development of Wind Farms on State Forest Lands conducted by the Joint Stock Company ‘Latvia’s State Forests’.
After the auction, Sunly acquired sufficient volume – approximately 6,500 hectares of land in the Skrunda area, spanning both Kuldīga and Saldus municipalities. Sunly is planning to use this area for developing a 138 MW wind park. Although the auction concluded at the end of last year, the process of approving the auction deeds and receiving invitation to sign the Development Right Agreement was finalized in mid-March.
Sunly initially bid for multiple parts of the auction, exceeding the planned nominal capacity of 300 MW in total. In parallel, Sunly also won the auction for land in Dagda parish, where the wind farm is being developed as well. Bidders needed to demonstrate reliability and previous experience in renewable energy generation with a capacity of at least 100 MW to qualify for the auction. This included meeting two criteria: 1) the site(s) being commissioned, and 2) providing electricity generation. Sunly’s experience proved valuable, particularly in the construction of solar parks in Poland, such as ‘ES Rzezawa 60’ and ‘Eplant 10’ Ltd., ‘Eplant 11’ Ltd., ‘Eplant 14’ Ltd., etc.
Liene Goba, Wind Project Manager in Latvia, emphasizes, “It should be added that from a procedural point of view, this required a significant amount of documentation, with each solar power plant project, including those up to 1 MW, requiring separate evidence. Without the support of colleagues in Poland and Estonia, as well as the Group’s financial controllers, it would have been impossible to prepare the necessary documentation and qualify for the auction. However, with the support of colleagues and carefully prepared documents, Sunly qualified for the auction and emerged as the successful bidder.”
“The primary focus of the auction was the territory in the southeast of Skrunda, which we extensively surveyed with nature experts. Last year, we obtained preliminary opinions on ornithofauna, spatial planning, and more. We’ve now initiated the public Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process for the area we thoroughly studied last year. Concurrently, we’ve secured contracts for nature studies for the remaining unstudied portion. We’re currently planning our initial meetings with the local communities. Despite the time-consuming and complex nature of the overall process, we remain steadfast in our belief in the project and are diligently working, step by step, to advance it,” L. Goba adds.