Van Oord and Liepaja Special Economic Zone (LSEZ) have signed a contract for the construction of an offshore wind farm support base and an oversized cargo terminal in Latvia’s Port of Liepaja.
“The offshore wind energy support base in the Port of Liepaja will promote economic development and attract significant foreign investments aimed at sustainable economy and green energy production,” Uldis Hmieļevskis , CEO of Liepaja SEZ.
The Dutch dredging and marine contractor will carry out preparatory works, which include research, business plan development, elaboration of the technical design and engagement of the partners, according to a social media update published by LSEZ on 20 March.
Van Oord will start construction of the offshore wind support base in the Outer Harbour of the Port of Liepaja in 2026. The base is expected to be put into operation in mid-2027, LSEZ says.
Van Oord Project Manager, Mark Bot , said: “Van Oord’s ambition is to act as the initiator in accelerating transformation of the energy industry. This project is a strong example of how Van Oord can take on the role and ensure positive impact on future generations.”
In Latvia, the first offshore wind project is planned to enter construction in 2028. Named ELWIND, the offshore wind farm is a cross-border project to be built together by Latvia and Estonia, whose governments started discussions to develop ELWIND in December 2019 and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to build the offshore wind farm.
In 2022, the governments of Latvia and Estonia pinpointed the locations in their respective parts of the Baltic Sea where the joint project will be built. In the Latvian part, the ELWIND wind farm area is located between Liepaja and Ventspils , in the Kurzeme region, approximately 15-20 kilometres from the coastline.
The ELWIND project was initially planned to have a total capacity of between 700 MW and 1,000 MW.
However, in November last year, the Latvian government announced that the planned target capacity of the offshore wind farm on the Latvian side alone would be up to 1,000 MW .
According to the government’s announcement from November 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers took into account the size of the research areas and the capacity of offshore wind farms planned in the neighbouring countries, as well as trends in supply chains, which led to the country raising the planned project capacity.
The tender for the rights to develop the project is scheduled to be held in 2026.