“WT Terminal”, a company operating in the Port of Riga, has built and commissioned a solar panel park that will replace part of the company’s electricity needs with green energy. This is the third solar panel park operating in the Port of Riga, and it is planned to open new green energy plants in several other port companies. Meanwhile one of the largest solar panel parks in the Baltics is under construction in the Spilve Meadows area of the Port of Riga. This solar park will be able to generate around 100,000 MWh of green electricity per year.

“WT Terminal” boasts 480 solar panels with a total capacity of 220.8 KW located on the roof of its on-site warehouse. The solar park project was launched in 2023 with the support of ALTUM programme and funding from JSC “Citadele banka”, the project’s objective was to replace part of the terminal’s energy consumption with self-generated green energy. “One of “WT Terminal” business areas is the processing of sawn timber – drying, sorting, packaging. These are quite energy-intensive processes, so self-generated energy definitely makes our company more cost-efficient and less dependent on fluctuations in the electricity market,” said “WT Terminal” Board member Andis Bunkšis.

“WT Terminal” is pursuing its sustainable development policy, where the production and use of green energy plays an important role. Next year, an innovative, electricity-powered hydraulic crane will be installed on the terminal’s berths. A new transformer substation has been built to ensure the operation of the electric crane and three berths have been equipped with a power supply. Thus, the company will be provided with a single green infrastructure facility that will increase the terminal’s performance and energy efficiency, while reducing harmful emissions and environmental impact.

For the merchants of the Port of Riga, sustainable development is not just a slogan or a declarative goal, but an important issue of competitiveness and even survival. “Now it is clear that both financial institutions and our customers are taking an active interest in the sustainability performance of the company and are redirecting freight flows to “green” transport corridors. That is why we have started to structure our business according to sustainability principles and are working hard to ensure that the company has a common vision for sustainable development,” continued the top manager of “WT Terminal”.

In the Port of Riga, solar power plants are already in operation at “Kronospan Riga” with a total capacity of 4.61 MW and at “Baltic Container Terminal” with a total capacity of 0.875 MW. A green energy project has been launched at the company “Rīgas Universālais Termināls”, where a solar park with a planned capacity of 250 KW will be built. The largest geothermal plant in the Baltics has been set up in the Port of Riga at “TFS Trans” logistics centre, making it possible to heat buildings with ground-source (geothermal) heat pumps.

“WT Terminal” ranks among the top ten largest companies in the Port of Riga in terms of the volume of cargo handled, and second among the port terminals in terms of the volume of timber handled. In recent years, the terminal’s freight volumes have been growing steadily, and in 2023 they reached 0.76 million tonnes, the highest in the company’s history. The company is known for its targeted investments in production capacity and the introduction of innovative technologies and solutions to boost the terminal’s efficiency.