Marking its entrance into the Latvian wind market, Vestas has secured a 59-MW order at the Targale wind project from a special purpose company majority owned by Utilitas, the Estonian utility provider.
The Targale project is in Ventspils municipality in western Latvia, and will be powered by 14 V136-4.2 MW turbines at a hub height of 82 meters.
With only 65 MW of wind capacity installed in Latvia, this project is due to nearly double the total installed capacity in the country, as Latvia makes progress toward its target to procure 50 percent of energy from renewable energy sources by 2030. To support the country’s wind-energy ambitions, Vestas opened its first office in Latvia in April 2021.
Vestas will supply and install turbines and will provide service for the project through a long-term 20-year Active Output Management 5000 (AOM 5000) service agreement, providing power performance certainty and Vestas’ industry-leading service expertise throughout the lifetime of the project.
“Our first project with Utilitas also marks Vestas’ arrival in Latvia,” said Nils de Baar, president of Vestas Northern & Central Europe. “We are positive about Latvia as a market and are delighted to be selected to provide turbines and long-term service at the Targale project. This project can be a bellwether for the Latvian wind industry, as the country advances its strong performance on clean energy toward 50 percent renewable energy penetration by 2030.”
“We are delighted to partner with Vestas, the largest manufacturer of wind-turbine generators, to build the wind park Targale together,” said Rene Tammist, development manager at Utilitas. “The explicit technological innovations in terms of efficient and environmentally friendly energy production that Vestas provide will contribute greatly to the renewable energy sector in Latvia. I am convinced that their presence in the Baltics will even more support the wind-energy development in the region.”
Turbine delivery to the Targale project will begin in the second quarter of 2022, and commissioning will begin in the third quarter of the same year.
To seal Vestas’ entry into Latvia and to service new wind projects such as Targale, plans are also underway to establish a local Vestas service hub in Latvia in 2022, near Ventspils port.
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