Legal fragmentation hinders the pace of the ELWIND project in Latvia
ELWIND – the joint Latvian-Estonian OWF project – is one of the most ambitious regional energy projects in the Baltic Sea. However, its development in Latvia is hampered by legal inconsistencies. The project is based on a regulation that was originally developed for offshore mineral extraction, not for offshore wind. This means that those involved in the project have to interpret and apply rules that are not fully consistent with the specifics of offshore wind – for example, on the lease of sea areas, the initiation of environmental impact assessment procedures and connection conditions. Such an approach increases legal uncertainty and creates a risk of delays. In turn, Estonia already has a “building rights license” (superficies licence) system in place, which combines several permits and ensures a predictable process. This asymmetry makes it difficult to synchronize ELWIND between the two countries, as the project cannot move at the same speed if the procedures are fundamentally different. Moreover, without a clear law in Latvia, investor confidence and the attraction of EU funding, which rely on clear permit mechanisms and legal coherence at the cross-border level, are also at risk.