COBALT successfully represents biogas power plants before the Constitutional Court

COBALT has successfully represented several biogas power plants before the Constitutional Court in a case concerning specific requirements for the efficient use of thermal energy under mandatory procurement.

On 27 October 2022 the Constitutional Court delivered a judgment in Case No. 2021-31-0103 on the compliance of Article 31.³(1) and (3) of the Electricity Market Law, as well as Points 21.3., 28., 30., 31., 48.4. and Annex 3 of the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation of 2 September 2020 No. 560 “Regulations on the Production of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources and on the Procedure for Determining and Monitoring Prices” (Regulation No. 560) with Article 1 and the first sentence of Article 105 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.

The matter was initiated upon the application of several biogas power plants. The applicants objected to certain requirements relating to the use of useful heat in cogeneration process, as well as to the linking of this use to the determination of the amount of electricity sold under mandatory procurement. According to the applicants, the mentioned requirements were impossible to fulfil.

The Constitutional Court held that the Point 30 of Regulation No. 560, insofar as it concerns the calculation of the coefficient of performance, Point 28 and Points 31.1 and 31.2, insofar as they apply to producers using biogas in cogeneration, are incompatible with the first sentence of Article 105 of the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia and invalid as of 1 July 2023. However, regarding the applicants, the above provisions were declared invalid as of 1 January 2021.

COBALT team included Managing Partner Lauris Liepa and Senior Associate Dr. Toms Krūmiņš.

The Constitutional Court’s judgment is final and is not subject to appeal.

Official statement issued by the Constitutional Court(available only in Latvian).