Salaspils, the 12th largest city in Latvia with over 18,000 residents, lies just 18 km from Riga, the capital. Known for its Botanic Garden, Salaspils is also home to a modern solar district heating system. The municipal company “Salaspils Siltums” was founded in 1996 to secure local heat supply. Since then, it has evolved from fossil-based heating to 95% renewable energy, now covering 100% of the city’s annual 60 GWh heat demand. The transition began in 2010 with pipeline upgrades and digital metering, cutting heat losses from 16.6% to 13.4% by 2014. In 2012, a 7 MW wood chip boiler was installed, followed by a flue gas condenser in 2015. A breakthrough came in 2019 with the launch of one of the largest solar thermal fields in Northern Europe—21,595 m² in size—paired with an 8,000 m³ heat storage tank and a new 3 MW high-efficiency biomass boiler. This solar system now supplies 15% of Salaspils’ annual heat demand emission-free. The system’s resilience and sustainability have drawn strong community support—11 new apartment buildings joined the network, preferring it over less efficient gas boilers. Salaspils Siltums is a model of modern, secure, and climate-neutral urban heating. Its success shows how medium-sized cities can drive Europe’s green energy transition.
