Wind Works is the name of the largest wind energy conference in the Baltic region, held annually by three wind energy associations from the Baltic states. At the centre of attention of this year’s event, which was successfully held on 9 April in the Latvian capital, Riga, were questions dedicated to the role of wind energy in the energy security of these countries.
In close cooperation with the Latvian transmission system operator AST and with the participation of NPC Ukrenergo, the strategic and practical aspects of strengthening energy resilience in the Baltic region were examined, along with the experience Ukraine has gained since the start of the hostilities unleashed by Russia against our country.
Wind energy could become the foundation of the Baltic states’ energy security, strengthening independence from energy imports and geopolitical processes. “Local” energy sources also help to reduce electricity prices for consumers – this was discussed by industry experts from Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and other European countries.
“Dialogue with citizens about the need to develop wind energy is one of the challenges for the development of the industry in Latvia, – said Kaspars Melnis, Minister of Climate and Energy of the Republic of Latvia. – The current European energy crisis makes it possible to better explain the need to produce energy in Latvia using local energy sources, which would help to preserve independence from fluctuations in energy prices caused by geopolitical events.” Underscoring the importance of cooperation between the Baltic states in ensuring energy security, in particular regarding the repair of infrastructure damage, he stressed: “We have NATO standards that are the same for everyone. Perhaps we should talk about standards in energy?”, the minister emphasised.
Ukraine’s experience in ensuring energy resilience proved to be of interest to the conference participants. Andriy Konechenkov, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association, explained that Ukraine’s energy policy was for a long time influenced by the legacy of the USSR. Its main principle was centralisation – a single system on the scale of the entire state. However, the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the armed conflict in Donbas forced a reconsideration of this strategy, including the start of the construction of wind farms.
“With the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has been systematically attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. All thermal power plants in Ukraine have at this point either been damaged or completely destroyed. Millions of Ukrainians were left without electricity and heating in winter, hospitals switched to generators, and cities lived according to outage schedules. This is what a centralised system looks like in the modern world”, – noted Andriy Konechenkov.
He emphasised that, due to the dispersal of wind turbines across the territory of a wind farm, destroying an entire wind farm would require a number of missiles that makes such a strike pointless from a military point of view – unlike a thermal power plant, which is a single complex where damage to a turbine or a substation leads to the loss of the generating capacity of the entire facility.
“Moreover, each turbine is an autonomous generator: damage one – and the system keeps working. This is precisely distributed resilience. Decentralisation as a principle of security – and it is precisely this principle that we are now deliberately placing at the foundation of Ukraine’s new energy strategy”, – emphasised Andriy Konechenkov.
During the international wind energy conference “Wind Works 2026”, a memorandum was also signed on the creation of a Strategic Baltic Alliance, the aim of which is to accelerate the development of green energy in the region. It was signed by several international companies, in particular from Germany, Finland and Denmark. One of the most important areas of development is the project to build a hydrogen production plant in Liepaja, which could significantly influence the development of energy in the Baltic Sea region.
