The European financial support for the AS "Augstsprieguma tīkls" (AST) is playing significant role in the company strategy and development. Since 2014, the received and planned European Union (EU) funding under several support programs exceeds EUR 350 million.
The three most important EU funding programs used by AST are Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), which supports energy infrastructure development and contributes to the achievement of the EU decarbonization goals for 2030 and 2050, the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF), which will help EU Member States to recover from the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic and supports coordinated cross-border and national infrastructure planning and financing, as well as energy projects and reforms, and the RePowerEU plan, which is RRF continuation and is solution to the global energy market disruptions and complications related to the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) is an important financing instrument of the European Union in the implementation of European infrastructure and the green course, which contributes the achievement of EU decarbonization goals for 2030 and 2050. The CEF program supports the sustainable and interconnected European network in the energy, transportation and digital field.
The CEF programme supports and provides benefits for people in all European Member States by making travel easier and more sustainable, improving energy security and independence in Europe, with bigger use of renewable energy, and facilitating cross-border interactions between competent authorities, businesses and society.
Since 2013, with CEF co-financing, AST implemented such European importance projects as Kurzeme Ring, which was completed in 2019, the third Latvian-Estonian electricity interconnection – completed in 2020, Riga CHP-2 – Riga HPP 330kV line project – completed in 2020, as well as the Baltic synchronization projects with continental Europe, which are planned to be completed by 2025. Several studies also were prepared with CEF support, including Baltic TSOs technical and economical common studies, related to the synchronization project - more information is available here.
The Recovery and Resilience Facility fund (RRF) is a temporary financial instrument and a central element of the NextGenerationEU recovery plan. It is expected to help EU Member States to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and make the European Union more stronger and resilient.
AS "Augstsprieguma tikls" (AST) is implementing projects with total RRF support of EUR 38,100,000 where EUR 27,000,000 is related for the construction of the national energy system dispatcher control and data centre, and the reconstruction of the existing territory, while EUR 11,100,000 is intended for the development and implementation of information systems and network management digitization measures. The agreement of the use and management conditions of RRF funding, between AST and the Ministry of Economics of Latvia, as the supervisory institution of the RRF energy sector projects, was signed on 27 March 2023. The RRF projects must be implemented by the July 2026.
On 18 May 2022, the European Commission approved the RePowerEU plan, a solution to the difficulties and disruptions in the global energy market due to Russian invasion of Ukraine. The RePowerEU plan is prolongation of the Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF), which supports coordinated cross-border and national infrastructure planning and financing, as well as energy projects and reforms. On 8 March 2022, the European Commission proposed an indicative roadmap to make Europe independent of Russian fossil fuel resources well before 2030. European Council leaders on 24-25 March 2022 agreed on this initiative and asked European Commission to present a detailed RePowerEU plan, which was adopted on 18 May 2022.
The total RePowerEU grant for AST projects is EUR 73.2 million, where EUR 60.2 million is allocated to the synchronisation activities and EUR 13 million for the transmission network modernisation and related studies. The projects should be implemented by June 2026.
AS "Augstsprieguma tīkls" (AST), the Latvian transmission system operator, has concluded a support agreement for digital development under the EU "Digital Europe" programme and the Latvian Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) plan. The project, supported by the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) and coordinated by the Latvian Information Technology Cluster, aims to foster technological efficiency through advanced digital solutions like artificial intelligence and smart data management.
Use of Artificial Intelligence for Transmission Network Infrastructure Monitoring
AST regularly conducts inspections of its transmission network assets. In addition to LiDAR (laser scanning) data acquisition, extensive aerial photography using drones is performed. LiDAR technology enables the collection of highly accurate spatial data about infrastructure and its surroundings through laser pulses, while drone imagery provides detailed visual information on the technical condition of assets.
As a result, thousands of images are generated. Until now, their analysis has largely been carried out manually, with specialists reviewing each image individually. This is a time-consuming process that requires significant human resources.
To improve efficiency, AST, in cooperation with Datacom, has launched a pilot project to develop a prototype for automated detection of potential defects. The solution is based on NVIDIA technologies and artificial intelligence models that analyze photographic data and enable early identification of potential anomalies in the technical condition of assets. These technologies are provided through the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH).
The project is fully funded under Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) plan (EUR 12,000). In the future, such a solution could become a significant support tool for transmission network monitoring and maintenance by enabling faster processing of large volumes of data and reducing the extent of manual work. The pilot project represents an important step towards a more advanced, data-driven and technologically sophisticated approach to transmission system management.
It is expected that the results of the pilot project will provide a basis for evaluating whether artificial intelligence technologies can ensure faster identification of potential defects and help reduce the likelihood of unplanned outages. According to the initial assessment, automated image analysis could reduce the time AST specialists spend on image review by 30–50%.
In addition to the quantitative benefits, the solution would provide a more uniform classification of defects, better traceability and auditability, a lower risk of human error, and would strengthen the safety culture within the organization.
As part of the cooperation, the EDIH (European Digital Innovation Hub), coordinated in Latvia by the Latvian Information Technology Cluster, will prepare AST's digital development roadmap and opinion. This activity is 100% funded up to EUR 1,000 from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, bringing the total EU funding for the project to EUR 13,000.