EVENT Ministerial panel. From the left Didzis Palejs, President of LATbio (Latvia), Kåre Fostervold, State Secretary, Renewable Energy and Energy Policy, Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (Norway), Riku Huttunen, Director General, Energy Department, Ministry of Employment and the Economy ( Finland), Rokas Masiulis, Energy Minister of Lithuania, Ibrahim Baylan, Minister of Energy (Sweden), Gunnar Olofsson, Chairman Svebio and Chairman Statskog SF (Sweden/Norway). Gustav Melin, CEO of Svebio and President of AEBIOM (left), gave Ibrahim Baylan, Minister of Energy (Sweden) some good tips how we should use and produce bioenergy. Bioenergy International No 79, 3-2015 39 Nordic Baltic Bioenergy – coordinate energy policy and secure energy supply Increased security of supply is a major theme in the European Energy Union, proposed by the EU Commission in February, and now discussed by EU leaders and institutions. The three Baltic States are among the EU member states that are heavily dependant on imported natural gas. Yet these countries also have untapped resources of biomass for energy. This transition from fossil energy to bioenergy was the theme of the recent Nordic Baltic Bioenergy Conference held in Riga, Latvia. THE EU IS 54 PERCENT DEPENDANT on imports for its energy supply. For natural gas the number is yet higher, 66 percent. For transportation fuels – petrol and diesel – 94 percent is imported. In six countries including Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania one single supplier, Russia, delivers the entire gas volume, a politically sensitive issue in the wake of the Ukraine and Crimea crisis. Organised by the Swedish Bioenergy Association (Svebio) and the Latvian Biomass Association (LatBIO) the recently held Nordic Baltic Bioenergy conference sought to discuss the seemingly obvious solution, substitution of fossil gas with biomass in heating and electricity production, and also in the future, in the production of renewable transport fuels. Coordinate energy policies However in EU countries low electricity prices, a dysfunctional carbon trading system and no coordination of some 380 national support schemes, were seen as major obstacles to the development of the bioenergy markets in the Baltic region. The need for better coordination of energy policies was hailed by every speaker and the proposed Energy Union was seen as an important step forward, even though many complained of too much focus on gas and electricity. – Heating has long been overlooked in the EU, said the Swedish Energy Minister Ibrahim Baylan. But we now see a growing interest, also in the Energy Union document. We must work on developing district heating with combined heat and power plants and fuel flexibility, using waste and biomass. Rokas Masiulis, Energy Minister of Lithuania, stressed the importance of energy independence and security of supply for the Baltic States. He talked about the new electricity cable now being built under the Baltic Sea, connecting the grids in Sweden and Lithuania, and a new 500 MW power line to Poland. – Biomass will play a major role in this energy independence for Lithuania, said Masiulis. Already in 2020 the country will get 70 percent of its district heating from biomass. To substitute Russian gas is a major objective, as Gazprom has a very aggressive price policy. Esa Hyvärinen from the Finnish energy utility Fortum Oy represented the energy utilities. He said that forestry is missing in the Energy Union. – Plenty of people in EU look at protecting forests, but few look for the use of our forests. In the proposed Energy Union we are pleased that, finally, heating and cooling are being addressed. Our biggest concern today is the very low electricity price. Krisjanis Karins, influential EU Parliamentarian from Latvia, talked about the lack of stability in the support schemes, clearly indicated in the way the EU looks at biofuels for transport. – We keep changing the rules of the game and it creates problems for the industry. He also characterised the emission trading system as “nonworking”. – We should introduce a straight and fixed carbon tax. It would function much better than ETS. But there is no political agreement on this. – Instead of a straightforward simple system the EU has 380 different national support schemes, Esa Hyvärinen pointed out. In summary: The Energy Union initiative from the EU Commission was welcomed. It gives new opportunities for bioenergy, particularly in the Baltic region. The new focus in the EU on heating is also appreciated. But the support systems are a mess, and reform is badly needed to put a price on carbon emissions. Biomass CHP a win-win The conference was followed by study tours to pellet producer LatGran’s new pellet plant in Gulbene, and to Finnish energy utility Fortum’s new biomass combined heat and power plant in Jelgava, a university city with 65 000 inhabitants 50 kilometres south of Riga. Switching from gas to woodchips has been a win-win solution for Jelgava in several respects: – The energy now comes from the surrounding countryside, and creates jobs for hundreds of people. – The greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced drastically. – The price of district heat to households and industries has decreased by 20 percent. Fortum has also built biomass and waste fuelled CHP plants in Tartu and Pärnu, Estonia; in Klaipeda, Lithuania; and recently also announced a project in Zarbze, southern Poland. In Lithuania, several other projects by other companies are planned. Today, biomass represents 40 percent of the energy supply in Lithuanian Photo: Janis Viksna Photo: Jeanette Fogelmark district heating. When new CHP plants have been built in Kaunas and Vilnius, Lithuania’s largest cities, the share of biomass and waste will increase to 70–80 percent and dependence on gas imports will be reduced. Text: Kjell Anderson BI79/4864/AS
Bioenergy no 3 May 2015
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