AS RĪGAS SILTUMS has commissioned Latvia’s first and the Baltic’s largest fast-response electrode boiler – a 49 MW unit at the “Imanta” district heating plant AS Rīgas Siltums, capable of reaching full capacity in just 90 seconds AS Rīgas Siltums. TRON is the technology platform behind its market participation – and the boiler is now qualified to provide aFRR and mFRR balancing services to the Latvian transmission system.
The 49 MW electrode boiler at SC “Imanta” is the first of its kind in Latvia and the largest in the Baltics. Developed as part of a €3.78 million investment, the boiler is designed to produce heat during low electricity price periods – replacing an estimated 15,000 MWh of natural gas-based heat production annually and cutting approximately 3,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year. But beyond its heat production role, the boiler’s defining feature is speed: full 49 MW output in 90 seconds. That responsiveness makes it a valuable grid asset – and it’s why AS Rīgas Siltums moved to qualify it for balancing services.
TRON is the energy management platform handling the boiler’s market participation. Our team integrated the asset into the TRON platform, managed the full qualification process with the Latvian Transmission System Operator (TSO) – AS Augstsprieguma tīkls – and prepared the boiler to participate in both aFRR (automatic frequency restoration) and mFRR (manual frequency restoration) balancing products. The boiler now operates as a dispatchable grid resource: producing heat when electricity prices favor it, and providing frequency response to the TSO when the grid needs flexibility.
This project matters beyond the individual asset. In February 2025, the Baltic states disconnected from the BRELL electricity system, meaning they must now maintain grid frequency independently. That shift has dramatically increased the need for fast, flexible resources capable of responding to grid imbalances in seconds – exactly what this electrode boiler delivers. Every qualified asset of this type strengthens the Baltic grid’s ability to integrate renewables, recover from disturbances, and operate securely in the post-BRELL environment.
We’re proud to have been chosen by AS Rīgas Siltums as the technology partner for this project, and grateful for the trust placed in us to deliver on both the technical integration and the regulatory qualification. Projects like this don’t come along often – a first-in-country, largest-in-region asset, operating at the intersection of district heating and grid balancing. It’s the kind of work TRON exists to do, and we’re excited to see where it leads next.
