University impact on power supply economy, reliability and sustainability enhancement decreasing climate changes

Research in prior scientific areas carried out by Riga Technical university (RTU), in general, and the Institute of Power Engineering as part of the University is of vital importance not only for the development of industry and national economy but is also a significant part of the education and training of young professionals for the Latvian power system and for engineering, design and construction companies. New challenges in the energy and power engineering field as well as economic and political changes in the Baltic countries have revealed a need for educational program refinement and academics requalification. To perform these changes effectively, proper formation of the research project portfolio as well as bids of the Latvian and European industry have been taken into account. The paper describes the most important achieved scientific and practical results. To solve a wide range of complex tasks and to ensure excellence of scientific research, a virtual research laboratory has been created; a brief description of the laboratory is given in the paper.