The well known SIA Sabiedrība Mārupe company in Latvia is using Citadele Bank’s co-financing to increase its competitiveness in the Baltic market by building biogas and natural gas cogeneration plants. This will allow the company to improve manufacturing effectiveness, reduce the cost of producing heat, and earn additional revenues from the production of electricity. The new products will make it possible to process grain farming and greenhouse plant waste, as well as manure from the livestock sector in an environmentally friendly way so as to produce both electricity and heat.
At this time SIA Sabiedrība Mārupe has completed the first stage of the project. Between May 2011 and mid-January 2012, the company using Citadele Bank’s co-financing built a 1 MW biogas cogeneration plant, a 6 MW heating boiler, a system to accumulate heat, and technologies which will allow the company to store up the heat that it produces so that it can be used for greenhouses. Preparations have been made for the construction of a 2 MW natural gas cogeneration plant.
“This project will help us to reduce the cost of producing heat, as well as the cost of growing tomatoes and cucumbers,” says SIA Sabiedrība Mārupe director Kaspars Brunovskis. “We will be able to maintain an even temperature in our greenhouses and thus increase output.”
Brunovskis adds that the biogas cogeneration plant makes it possible to make more efficient use of agricultural waste products, using them in an environmentally friendly way to produce electricity and heat. “That, in turn, will allow us to earn additional money by selling electricity,” he explains. “Because a number of private homes have been built around the territory of Sabiedrība Mārupe in recent years, a fundamental plus in relation to this project is that we are reducing the stench which used to be a problem when manure was spread on fields and plant waste was composted. That is important both for the environment and for the quality of life of local residents.”
The company director goes on to say that “with this project, we are drawing closer in terms of manufacturing effectiveness to vegetable growers in European countries such as the Netherlands. The heat that is needed for vegetable growing in Holland has long since been provided via the help of cogeneration plants.”
“Biogas production has become an increasingly popular solution for manufacturing and the use of resources so that Latvian companies in the agricultural sector can improve efficiency,” says Citadele Bank Corporate Banking Sector head Agnese Paegle. “This is a process which opens up new horizons for companies. Our experience tell us that it was agricultural companies in specific which were the most active in terms of seeking out the most sustainable projects in 2011. This project will open up new growth opportunities for as stable and well known company in Latvia as Sabiedrība Mārupe.”
Citadele is continuing to provide co-financing to Sabiedrība Mārupe so that it can pursue the second stage of the project. It involves the construction of a 2 MW natural gas cogeneration plant, as well as a CO2 production system.
The total cost of the biogas cogeneration plant and the natural gas cogeneration plant is LVL 5.2 million (including VAT), and Citadele has provided LVL 4.7 million in financing.
The client for the biogas cogeneration plant is SIA Zaļā Mārupe, and the construction work is being done by SIA Filter. The client for the natural gas cogeneration plant is SIA Mārupes Siltumnīcas.
About Citadele Bank
Citadele is the largest local bank in Latvia and it is also represented in Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Ukraine. Citadele is the only collaboration partner of American Express® in Latvia and Lithuania who is entitled to issue American Express credit cards. Presently 75% of Citadele Bank is possessed by VAS “Privatizācijas aģentūra” (State JSC Privatization Agency) and 25% plus one share is possessed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
About SIA Sabiedrība Mārupe
SIA Sabiedrība Mārupe is a well known company in Latvia with much experience in agricultural production. The company manages 1,648 hectares of farmland in four parishes. It and its subsidiaries employ some 300 people. The subsidiary SIA Mārupes Siltumnīcas is the leading producer of vegetables in covered areas in Latvia. It has 9.6 hectares of greenhouses, with 6 ha used to grow cucumbers and 3.6 ha use to grow tomatoes. In 2008, the company Mārupes Siltumnīcas joined the Baltijas Dārzeņi co-operative, and is the largest supplier of vegetables at this time in terms of turnover.