The kick off meeting of the Latvian stakeholder desk took place online on 27. January, 2021 and was organised by the Latvian Environmental Investment Fund in cooperation with the Institute of Physical Energy.19 invited stakeholders took part in the meeting, representing ministries (Ministry of Economics, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development), planning regions, energy agencies, municipalities and the Latvian Association of Local Governments, as well as local partnerships.

The representatives of the Latvian partner organisations of the COME RES project introduced the participants to the planned project activities and the results to be achieved. The focus of the meeting was to initiate the first discussions of the adoption and implementation of the Clean Energy Package and the conditions set for the development of renewable energy communities in Latvia. Also, detailed insights into the future planned activities of the stakeholder desk was provided.

The representative of the Ministry of Economics, Sustainable Energy Policy Department Mr. Einārs Cilinskis gave an introduction about the transposition of the provisions of the RED II Directive in Latvia. He informed about planned changes in the legal framework and the planned timetable for transposition. Mr. Ilgvars Francis form the Riga planning region presented results of "Co-producing and co-financing renewable community energy projects” in the Mārupe municipality, which is realising pilot projects, related to co-operation within the scale of building. He concluded with the central factors which have ensured the success of these projects, which have a high relevance for future promotion of REC in Latvia.

At the end of the meeting, the participants took an active part in a discussion on key aspects of RECs, such as possible legal forms and definition and application of proximity criteria to be effectively controlled by shareholders or members that are located in the proximity. These factors were discussed considering in particular Latvia’s framework conditions. Continuing the discussion, the support instruments and financial sources, potentially available for RECs in Latvia, were discussed. Participants concluded on the importance of checking and including RECs and their specifity in the future RES investment co-financing programmes.

During the project, the participants of the Stakeholder desk will meet at least two more times. In addition, thematic seminars and policy laboratories will be organized. The participants were invited to express their point of view on the top issues to be discussed in the next thematic workshops/policy labs.