Augstsprieguma Tīkls AS (AST) is an independent electricity transmission state system operator in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It operates power systems with voltages of 110 kV and above, which is leased from

Latvenergo Latvenergo is a state-owned electric utility company in Latvia. Latvenergo Group provides energy supply services in the Baltics. The Group comprises the parent company Latvenergo AS, with decisive influence, and five subsidiaries. Latvenergo ...

. It is also the main shareholder of Conexus Baltic Grid, a unified natural gas transmission and storage operator in Latvia.

History

On 15 October 1939 the Ķegums power plant and the first substation in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

start operation. This day is considered as the beginning of AST. AST was a part of

. On 2 January 2012, it was unbundled from Latvenergo and the

Ministry of Finance of Latvia Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

became the sole shareholder of AST. In December 2017, AST bought from

Uniper Ruhrgas International Uniper SE �juːnipɚis an energy company based in Düsseldorf, Germany. The name of the company is a portmanteau of "unique" and "performance" given by long-term employee Gregor Recke. Uniper was formed by the separation of E.ON's fossil fuel ...

and Itera Latvija 18.31% and 16.05% stakes in Conexus Baltic Grid, a natural gas transmission system operator in Latvia, for €57.394 million.

Operations

AST operates Latvian power systems with voltages of 110 kV and above, which is leased from

. Its overall strategic goal is to ensure the security of electricity supply of Latvia, to provide a continuous electricity transmission service. Latvia and the Baltic states have historically operated in synch with the electric power systems of Russia and Belarus BRELL (Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). The origins of the idea to synchronise with the European grid go back as far as 2007, when the prime ministers of the Baltic states proposed the idea of investigating this possibility. The synchronisation of the Baltics with the European electric power networks is planned for 2025. AST plans to invest €445 million in the Latvian power transmission system in 2018–2027. In 2018, it invests €89.05 million, of which €62.1 million will be spent on implementation of the third stage in construction of the Kurzeme Ring power transmission line and €4.25 million in construction of the third power interconnection between Estonia and Latvia.

Corporate issues

In 2017, the company had a turnover of €158.86 million and a profit of €309,244. In August 2018, the share capital of the company was increased up to €63,139,313 by converting the loan of €57.394 million for purchasing share in Conexus Baltic Grid into the share capital. AST reached 4.7 million euros in 2018, of which 3.6 million will be paid as dividends to the state; the remaining amount will be invested in the fixed assetsfor implementing development projects. The turnover of AST during the reporting year was 194 million euros, which is 35 million euros more than the year before. Income from electric power transmission network services amounted to 72.6 million euros, or 37% of turnover.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Augstsprieguma tikls Electric power transmission system operators in Latvia