A €12.44 million grant programme financed by European Union (EU) funds will be launched to reduce air pollution and the negative impacts of heating installations in Latvia.
Around 1200 households in Latvian cities will be eligible for co-financing of 50-95% of the project costs for the replacement of combustion appliances used to heat their homes. This will improve the efficiency of individual heating systems and introduce technologies that significantly reduce air pollution, including by connecting homes to efficient district heating systems.
Reduction of air pollution should be promoted
The investment programme will contribute to reducing emissions from heating installations, such as PM2.5 (fine particulate matter), by at least 50 tonnes per year by the end of 2025. Fine particulates are formed depending on the fuel and boiler used, and in particular their amount is related to the age of the boiler. Referring to the Central Statistical Office data for 2020, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (MoEPRD) underlines that Latvia has a relatively high proportion of old heating installations. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Environmental Performance Report 2019, one of Latvia's most important problems is persistent fine particulate air pollution, with almost 90% of the Latvian population exposed to PM2.5 at levels above the World Health Organisation's guideline of 10 µg/m3.
The main sources of PM2.5 in Latvia are the service and household sectors (59%), where emissions come from the combustion of biomass for heating. Emissions of PM2.5 from the household sector in Latvia in 2018 were 12.36 kilotonnes (kt). Poor air quality has a negative impact on quality of life, especially for urban residents. Polluted air can cause health problems such as respiratory and lung diseases (asthma, etc.), cardiovascular diseases, impair the development and functioning of the nervous system, affect the reproductive system and even lead to oncological diseases. Poor air quality is also the leading cause of premature death in the EU, with an impact even greater than that of road traffic accidents. The European Environment Agency has estimated that PM2.5 pollution caused 1 600 premature deaths in Latvia in the recent past, nitrogen dioxide pollution caused 130 premature deaths and ozone pollution caused 50 premature deaths.
Sandis Cakuls, Deputy State Secretary for Development Instruments at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, explains, "The aim of the investment is to promote the replacement of old biomass, coal and peat heating installations in cities to reduce their negative impact on air quality and human health. At the same time, the investment will also help citizens improve the efficiency of their heating systems."
Andris Ķēniņš, MoEPRD Deputy State Secretary for Environmental Protection, adds that the primary target group of the grant programme is Latvian urban households, where air pollution exceedances have been detected.In 2020, the average age of wood-burning stoves and stoves in urban areas was between 23 and 27 years. In contrast, the average age of central heating boilers using wood, wood residues and briquettes ranged from 13 to 23 years. Old installations account for a significant proportion of the total number of wood-fired installations and therefore cause significant urban air pollution.
"To reduce emissions and their negative impacts on the environment and public health, and to promote the uptake of zero-emission technologies, cities need to invest in replacing biomass combustion plants in household dwellings with plants that emit lower or almost no air pollutants. Examples include heat pumps. At the same time, it is important to promote the connection to district heating in order to reduce urban air pollution. It has several advantages, such as generally lower emissions of air pollutants than individual heating solutions, through reduced fuel consumption and the introduction of modern combustion technologies and flue gas treatment plants. Higher demand overall reduces heating tariffs, increases the competitiveness of the district heating solution and, by replacing polluting sources with new connections, improves air quality in the local area. The investment support will encourage citizens to make greater use of district heating, and will also enable them to renew or rebuild existing heating systems along with the replacement of the heating source, thus improving air quality in urban areas," explains A. Ķēniņš. Priority for such investment support should be given to areas where air pollution standards are exceeded, such as Riga, Liepaja and Rezekne, but projects from all cities in Latvia are not excluded.
More information on the possibility for households to receive investment support for replacement of heating equipment is available on the websites of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development (www.varam.gov.lv) or the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (www.cfla.gov.lv), by writing to the e-mail address silti@cfla.gov.lv or by calling the advisory line 24002700.
The article was written with the financial support of the Latvian Environmental Protection Fund for the information campaign "Mana māja. Mana vide", the content of which is the responsibility of the Association for Education, Culture and Innovative Projects (IKIPA). The project will inform private home owners and the general public about the proper operation of individual heating installations, good fuel combustion practices and the health and environmental impacts of different fuels.
