Gren has successfully finalized the connection of Jelgava Palace to the city’s district heating system. The palace, home to the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies (LBTU), is now receiving heat energy produced at Gren’s biomass combined heat and power plant from sustainably sourced biomass.

The heat supply in the test mode to Jelgava Palace began in mid-October. Following successful trials, the new heating main has been officially integrated into the city’s district heating network.

“The connection of Jelgava Palace to the city’s district heating system, has been one of our most significant and technically complex projects in Jelgava this year,” notes Rihards Zakrepskis, Gren Project Manager. “We are proud to have completed the work on schedule, ensuring reliable heat delivery to the palace already for this heating season.”

Linards Sisenis, Vice-Rector for Finance at LBTU, highlights: “Most of the University’s buildings were connected to the city’s heating network in 2022 and 2023. This year, the technologically complex connection of the historic Jelgava Palace has been completed, marking a significant step towards modern and sustainable district heating for our buildings. Connecting to Jelgava’s district heating network and transitioning to local renewable resources for our heat supply is a strategic move that reinforces our commitment to green thinking and sustainable development.”

The project involved:

• construction of a heating main beneath the Driksa River and the Palace Canal by using horizontal drilling in two phases and Fibre Flex Pro plastic pipes;
• construction of the necessary communications and connections points in Pilssala and J. Čakstes Bulvāris;
• rebuilding 2 individual heat substations at Jelgava Palace.

The total length of the new heat pipeline is 752 m, with 190 meters running under the Driksa River and 142 meters under the Palace Canal.

In Jelgava, this is the second project involving the construction of a heating main beneath a riverbed. Gren completed the first project of this kind in 2012, installing a connecting pipe for the district heating systems under the Lielupe riverbed, linking the networks on both sides of the river.