RIGA, May 17 (LETA) - During an extraordinary meeting on Monday, Daugavpils City Council approved Daugavpils Siltumtikli heating utility's project to build another boiler house that will be fueled by woodchips, LETA learned from the municipality.

The total cost of the project is EUR 15 million, therefore, according to the municipality, Daugavpils Siltumtikli will require municipal support to qualify for at least EUR 4 million co-financing from the European Union's Cohesion Fund.

The aim of the project is to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy resources and to improve the efficiency of boiler houses, ensuring a continuous and steady supply of heat to the existing consumers and to reduce heating costs or maintain them at the current level.

Daugavpils Siltumtikli operates three boiler houses where the main fuel is natural gas - a total of 85 percent of heating in Daugavpils is generated using natural gas, said the company. Taking into account the current situation in the energy market and unpredictable changes in natural gas prices in the long run, the company has decided to build a new biomass-fueled boiler house to increase the share of heating produced with biomass to 50 percent.

The project is planned to be implemented by December 31, 2023.