Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a record-high price increase, as a result of which JSC “Latvenergo” revenues in 2022 reached 1.84 billion euros, which is 73% more than a year earlier, according to the company’s statement “Nasdaq Riga”.
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The EBITDA of the group is 360.2 million euros, or 81% higher than in 2021, and the profit of the group is 183.9 million euros. In 2021, the group’s profit was 71.6 million euros.
Evaluating last year’s results, the management of “Latvenergo” emphasizes that 2022 was a turning point when, after February 24, a lot of resources were devoted to activities to create sustainable foundations for the further development of the concern, Latvia’s energy independence and the irreversible transition from fossil fuels to domestic renewable energy resources use.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Europe gradually gave up Russian gas, which affected the supply of not only natural gas, but also other energy resources, contributing to the increase in their prices. In 2022, the average electricity price of the “Nord Pool” system was 2.2 times higher and reached 136 EUR/MWh. This happened considering that the price of natural gas in 2022 was almost 3 times higher, exceeding 132 EUR/MWh. The price of electricity in Latvia increased 2.5 times. On the other hand, the average price of emission allowances was 81 EUR/t, which is 53% higher than in 2021. AS “Latvenergo” has stopped purchasing natural gas from Russia since February 24, 2022.
These factors affected not only the financial results of the “Latvenergo” concern, but also the amount of electricity produced, as well as confirmed the importance of the strategic development goals selected by the concern for the security of the national energy supply.
Due to the high market prices of electricity and natural gas, as well as the increase in the number of electricity customers and working in new business directions, the financial indicators of the “Latvenergo” concern have increased. In 2022, the revenues of the “Latvenergo” group reached 1.84 billion euros, which is 776.6 million euros or 73% more than the year before.
Of the total produced 3822 GWh of electricity, 70% or 2671 GWh has been developed by the Daugava HPP.
Compared to last year, the number of electricity customers of the Latvenergo concern increased by 8%, reaching more than 818 thousand in the Baltic countries, of which more than 175 thousand are outside Latvia.
In 2022, the amount of electricity sold by Latvenergo Group in the Baltics is 5,452 GWh, of which 35% or 1,912 GWh – in Estonia and Lithuania. On the other hand, the number of natural gas customers has increased by 15%, exceeding 21 thousand customers at the end of December.
As the market demand for renewable energy increased, the demand for solar panels increased significantly. The number of contracts for the sale of solar panels and parts of solar parks concluded by the group in the Baltics has increased almost 5 times, exceeding 6,200. The total installed capacity of solar panels for retail customers of the “Latvenergo” group in the Baltics exceeds 38 MW.
In 2022, the Latvenergo concern has implemented investments in the amount of 121.7 million euros, which have not changed significantly compared to the previous year. The majority, or 70%, is invested in distribution network assets. The reconstruction of the Daugava HPP hydro units also continued.
