Jelgava (LV)

Testing how two public buildings can share solar power under one legal roof.

The Jelgava energy community is a municipal initiative spanning two public buildings in Jelgava, Latvia: a primary school and a culture centre. It serves as a practical start-up model for how local authorities elsewhere in Latvia might establish similar communities.

The operational model & energy flow

Solar panels sit on the rooftops of both buildings, with sites chosen by analyzing building orientation relative to the sun, roof condition, and the local grid’s capacity to take on additional load. Electricity produced is mainly self-consumed on site, with any excess first used to charge each building’s battery. Once batteries are full, remaining surplus is transferred to the other community member through the grid’s power trader, who pays the community monthly for it. After covering its own costs, the community can then choose to use that income to help cover members’ energy and grid bills. A distinctive detail: the inverter is managed by an AI application that optimizes battery charging and usage based on real-time Nord Pool electricity prices.

Numbers at a glance

• 60 kW combined installed solar capacity (30 kW + 30 kW), with a matching 60 kW combined battery capacity.
• Estimated annual production of 61.35 MWh/year (30.23 MWh + 31.12 MWh).
• Estimated annual savings of approximately €10,000–€10,084/year (VAT included).
• Around 3.29 t CO₂ avoided per year. 
• Total investment cost of €72,012.

The journey of the Jelgava Pilot Site

Jelgava has worked on energy and climate issues for years – the city established the Zemgale Regional Energy Agency and joined the Covenant of Mayors back in 2009. When the municipality joined StartSun, the goal was clear from the outset: the project had to produce a concrete result, the actual establishment of an energy community – a new and still-developing legal concept in Latvia.

Bringing the two buildings together as members wasn’t the hardest part, since both already belonged to the same municipality. The real difficulty was building a legal framework that could work alongside existing legislation and municipal procedures – work that required cooperation between lawyers, municipal leadership, the development department and the energy agency, with few ready-made examples in Latvia to follow. One of the most useful outcomes has been a much clearer internal understanding of what documents, decisions and agreements an energy community actually requires.

Choosing the buildings themselves also carried a lesson: high electricity use isn’t enough on its own. A construction engineer’s assessment was needed to confirm the roofs could carry the panels, underlining that planning has to account for structural condition and permits as much as consumption data.

The first year will provide the answers

Solar panels and battery storage are now installed and in place at both sites, but the model still needs to prove itself over time – it isn’t yet clear how much electricity the buildings will use or how much surplus will be available for sharing. The first full year of operation will show what works, what needs adjusting, and how replicable this municipal model could be for other Latvian local authorities.

Programme Manual Online

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