[PLPM6] Jelgava PP meeting: e-mobility in Latvia

Partner meeting in Jelgava - An opportunity to learn about the electromobility in Latvia

Partners of Interreg Europe programme project “Electro mobility as driver to support policy instruments for sustainable mobility” (e-MOPOLI) from 2nd to 6th December (2019) visited Jelgava and nearby towns to get acquainted with the electromobility infrastructure in Latvia.

The first day of the project partner meeting was spent in Jekabpils to learn about the use of alternative (non fossil) fuel - including a visit to the first compressed natural gas filling station in Latvia, opened this year by the fuel trader Virši-A. There was also a visit to Jekabpils bus park, which invests in the purchase of new compressed natural gas buses.

The following day project partners visited national level fund implementation institutions in the field of electromobilty located in Riga. There was a meeting with representatives from the Climate Change and Regional Policy Departments at Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development. In the Ministry of Transport conversations were not only about electromobility and alternative fuel vehicles, but also about the public transport system. The network of 139 rapid charging stations to be created with the help of EU funds was presented at the Road Traffic Safety Directorate and a discussion on the use of EU funds for promotion of electromobility and reduction of CO2 emissions was held.

On the third day of the international meeting, project partners listened to presentations from Ministry of Transport, Road Traffic Safety Directorate, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, non-governmental organizations “Zero emissions Mobility Support Society” and “uzladets.lv”. 
Third project partner meeting day - presentation by representative of Ministry of Transport

These presentations and discussions provided a lot of useful and up-to-date information for Latvian industry professionals and foreign guests, and were led by an electric car enthusiast Ansis Bogustovs. 

Round table discussion lead by electric car enthusiast Ansis Bogustovs

One of the days was devoted to the possibilities of electric vehicles and their infrastructure in Zemgale. The project partners visited Jelgava Municipality operative information centre, where they got acquainted with various solutions for modern urban environment and saw electrical cars of municipal police and municipal institution "Pilsētsaimniecība". Deputy to Chairman Management of Ecoconomic Programmes (Jelgava) presented concept of Jelgava as smart city with solutions in different fields.

Audience of third day presentations

Accompanied by the head of the “Zero emissions Mobility Support Society” the operation of various electric car charging solutions was reviewed and demonstrated in the guest house “Zemnieku cienasts”, Eleja gas station, as well as at the Tervete Natura park, where representative of “Latvia’s State Forests” presented the activities of the organization and the use of electric cars in everyday life.

Head of “Zero emissions Mobility Support Society” Arnis Bergs demonstrates electrical car charger at Eleja gas station.

The closing day was dedicated to familiarising the day-to-day work of the Zemgale Planning Region Administration. Given that Zemgale Planning Region had offered integrated planning as an example of good practice in the project, the presentations focused on the place of planning regions in public administration, the specifics of Zemgale, economic and demographic trends, planning system, projects, and support tools for implementing programmes and plans. Raitis Madžulis, Project Manager of the e-MOPOLI project, presented energy sector planning as an example of integrating energy, environment, transport, climate change and urban planning.

During the international meeting, work has also been carried out on the project - documentation, analysis of the activities carried out and specification of the next steps of the project implementation.

“The visit of the project partners was successful. Representatives from several countries enjoyed a visit to the Jelgava Municipality Operative Information Center, where they were introduced to its equipment and surveillance systems, they also liked Jurijs Strods (Deputy to Chairman Management of Ecoconomic Programmes) presentation, where he explained the smart city solutions in Jelgava. Project partners also enjoyed meetings held at Ministry of Transport, Road Traffic Safety Directorate, Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, which are high-level organizations and provided valuable information” says project manager Raitis Madžulis.