Latvia’s solar capacity has reached 1,521 MW, according to figures shared by the Latvian Renewable Energy Alliance (LREA).

The figure indicates around 601 MW of solar have been added in the country so far this year, adding to the 920 MW that were installed by the end of the last year. This growth trajectory means 2026 is already the most successful year for solar deployment in Latvia, outpacing the previous calendar record year of 319 MW in 2024.

LREA member and Head of Business Development at Evecon, Gatis Macāns, told pv magazine that the expansion of Latvia’s renewable energy sector is being driven by the completion of large-scale solar projects that were initiated several years ago, as well as continued investment in distributed generation and rapid deployment of wind and battery energy storage systems. 

“These developments are expected to further strengthen the country’s renewable generation capacity and support the ongoing energy transition,” Macāns said.

There have been five new solar power parks with a combined connection capacity of 519 MW connected to Latvia’s transmission system operator (TSO) network during 2026 so far, Macāns shared, as well as 150 MW of wind across two projects and two battery storage systems totaling 68 MW of capacity.

Details published by Latvian TSO Augstsprieguma tīkls (AST) says these connected solar projects consist of a 110 MW solar park in Ventspils, a 199 MW facility in the South Kurzeme municipality, a 40 MW project in Valmiera, a 60 MW site in Madona and 110 MW project in Krāslava.

AST adds that it plans to connect four more wind farms and four hybrid solar-plus-storage parks with a combined capacity of 913 MW by the end of the year. The TSO also forecasts that, based on connection agreements for new grid connections, the capacity of solar and wind connected to the TSO network, which now exceeds 1.1 GW, could double over the next three years.

There is an additional 782 MW of utility-scale solar now connected to Latvia’s distribution system operator (DSO) network, Macāns added, while microgenerators, consisting of systems up to 11.1 kW in size, now represent around 220 MW of installed capacity, around a 10 MW increase on figures from the end of last year.

“In the small-scale segment, several support programmes remain available for households, municipalities and companies investing in self-consumption solar projects, supporting continued growth in distributed PV installations,” Macāns added.

A report from Latvian DSO, Sadales tīkls, says solar accounts for 78% of the total generation capacity installed in the distribution network, while the volume of solar energy produced increased by 50% compared to the first six months of last year, with 441.3 GWh of solar electricity fed into the grid this year alone.

Latvia’s strong solar growth over the first half of this year helped solar become the country’s largest source of electricity in both May and June, with final figures for July yet to be released.

Data released by AST says solar generated 274 GWh in Latvia in June, 55% of the 495 GWh of total electricity generation. Hydropower was the second largest form of electricity, generating 158 GWh. In June, Latvian electricity production provided 88.48% of total national electricity consumption.

Latvia’s share of solar within its domestic electricity generation in June was an EU record, according to separate analysis by Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE.

Additional reporting by AST says that across the first half of 2026, electricity generation in Latvia exceeded consumption by 7%. Renewable energy power plants currently account for 71% of the total capacity of power plants connected to the transmission network.