A solar panel park will be built on the roof of the Riga Airport terminal

Riga Airport has announced a procurement for the solar panel park construction project development, author supervision and construction. The electricity generated by the solar panel park – up to 576 thousand-kilowatt hours per year – will be fully self-consumed by the airport for the terminal and its surrounding infrastructure.  Interested traders are encouraged to prepare and submit their applications by 1 August this year.

Laila Odiņa, Chairperson of the Board of Riga Airport, commented: “This is the first step towards the creation of a solar panel park at the airport. Considering the rising energy prices, solar energy has become a sustainable and cost-effective way to generate electricity, where today's investments will pay off in the future. Moreover, it also gives us the opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, which is one of the objectives of the airport's sustainability strategy towards zero emissions."

The solar panels are planned to be installed on the roof of the airport's North Pier building and will have a total installed capacity of 560–580 kW, which would reduce the airport's own CO2 emissions by 62.8 tonnes per year. The total planned cost for the project is up to €600 000.

In order to assess the suitability of the roof of the North Pier building for the installation of solar panels, Riga Airport and air navigation company “Latvijas Gaisa satiksme” have carried out feasibility studies. During this work, the potential glare from solar panels was assessed, which could affect the work of aircrew and air traffic controllers, as well as air navigation aids. A computer analysis of the glare and on-site tests were carried out for different panel layouts. The requirements for the location of the solar panels, as defined in the study, are included in the technical specification of the procurement.