Estonia

Country Profile

(.pdf file - 306 kB)

1. Overview

2. Policy and Incentives

3. Wind

4. Biomass

5. Solar

6. Geothermal

7. Hydroelectric

8. Links

9. References

10. Country Contacts

Estonia was established in 1991 after the breakup of the former Soviet Union.  Since its formation, the parliamentary government has pursued policies of economic reform to increase transparency in all sectors by emphasizing market oriented mechanisms.  Subsequently, Estonia has been able to form one of the more stable economies of the former soviet states.  Consistent growth in GDP has been observed since 1995, accompanied by inflation decreasing into single-digit figures.  As a result of fits extensive reform efforts and growing economy, Estonia has been involved with EU accession talks since 1998, and was accepted into the WTO in 1999. 

Eesti Energia (Estonian Energy) is the dominant player in the Estonian power sector, as it has responsibilities for the bulk of the country's power-generating units and its distribution networks.

Estonia has approximately 3.3 gigawatts (GW) of installed electric-generating capacity, 99.7 percent of which comes from thermal power plants. The Estonian Power Station and the Baltic Power Station, both fueled by oil shale, together make up nearly 95 percent of Estonia’s electric production.  The remainder of the electricity is generated by other oil shale plants and combined heat and power plants. 

Estonia currently obtains less than 1 percent of its power from renewable sources, but under a deal with the European Union (EU) the Baltic state will have to raise that percentage to 5.1 percent by 2010 as its moves itself away from oil-shale-fired electricity

The government has sought to increase efficiency in the use of energy, reliable electricity generation and distribution, by seeking outside investment where applicable for infrastructure improvements, and by facilitating competition and diversity within energy industries.  To this end the government began a phased-in liberalization of the electricity sector in 2001.  Tariffs were established to allow all customers to choose their electricity supplier, however, at this time only the customers whose annual use exceeds 40 GWh can choose their electricity supplier.  These financial reforms come on the heels of the unbundling of the energy sector in to a grid operator, Eesti Energia, generation companies, and distribution networks.  The two largest generating stations, Eesti Elektrijaam and Balti Electrijaam, were purchased by US based NRG Energy, Inc. in 2000 and 2001, respectively.  Additionally, two of the regional distribution companies have been sold to international investors.

Estonia Country Summary Table

Estonia’s Transmission System

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According to the Electricity Market Act renewable energy sources are hydro, wind, solar, wave, tidal and geothermal energy sources, landfill gas, sewage treatment plant gas, biogases and biomass. In the Act, biomass is defined as the biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from agriculture (including vegetable and animal substances), forestry and related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste.

In the Electricity Market Act, some measures are provided (purchase obligation with a fixed feed-in tariff) supporting RES:

·          A network operator is obliged to buy electricity produced from renewables within the network, which he owns or processes.

·          A network operator pays the price for renewables based electricity that equals the product of the coefficient 1.8 and weighted average price of the electricity sold in the previous calendar year by the producer processing over 500 MW capacity (AS Narva Power Plants is the only producer today who satisfies these conditions).

·          The wind energy based electricity shall be eligible for this feed-in tariff during 12 years. All support schemes to renewable energy will be terminated at the end of year 2015 which means that only wind power plants that start operation at the beginning of 2004 will obtain maximum support.

·          The act defines the balance-sharing obligation of all electricity market players and stipulates that a market player has to enter into an open delivery contract with a respective seller. A market player that generates electricity from wind is not obliged to pay for the open delivery contract that he enters into with the network operator.

·          Therefore, electricity generated by renewable resources (wind) can receive some financial support until end of year 2015.

Additionally, Estonia has ratified several international agreements, like the European Energy Charter Treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol, Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution and its protocols, and Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer.

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The cyclonic activity of the Baltic Sea region results in high mean wind speeds throughout the area.  In general, the wind potential in the coastal zone of Estonia is higher than that in the other Baltic countries.  A country wide wind-atlas is available for Estonia, where several areas with annual average wind speeds of  7 - 8 m/s at 10 m height were identified. This corresponds to wind speeds over 10 m/s at 50m height. 

Wind resources suitable for power utilization are available on approximately 20 percent of Estonia’s territory.

The theoretical wind potential in Estonia is estimated at about 9 TWh.  Considering electrical network restrictions, the optimistic wind target is 3 TWh and realistically the potential is about 1.3 TWh. The strongest obstacle to the construction of wind power is the low grid capacity.  The Estonian government has announced that, beginning in 2009, it will limit the amount of wind-delivered electricity it would buy at a fixed price to just 200 MW, stating technical reasons of load balancing.

With regard to wind speeds, the Estonian coast can be divided into three areas:

·          The west coast of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, with capacity factors close to 42 percent, where the possibility for installed capacity is around 10 MW and annual production could be up to 36 GWh. 

·          The coast of Liivi Bay, with a capacity factor close to 37 percent, and the potential for installed capacity of 250 MW and annual production up to 800 GWh.

·          The coast of Väinamere and North coast, with a capacity factor close to 30 percent, potential for installed capacity of around 300 MW and annual production up to 440 GWh.

As of October 2006, Estonia has 35 MW of installed wind energy capacity. The industry association is the Estonian Wind Energy Association.   Estonia has a very good potential for wind energy development. 

Wind Atlas of Estonia (Source: University of Tartu)

Wind Energy Density (Source: University of Tartu)

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Estonia’s forests cover about 47.9 percent of the country’s whole territory.  The country has a high potential for energy production from wood-based fuels - firewood, wood by-products (e.g., wood chips, pellets, granules, briquettes), forest residues, waste wood (including sawdust, shavings, edgings, etc).

The wood processing industry is well developed in Estonia, and waste wood from these activities is effectively collected. Currently about 95 percent of waste wood is used for energy production. Several enterprises are producing wood chips, wood briquettes (20 000 tons in 2002) and pellets (100 000 tons in 2002). The market for wood chips, briquettes and pellets is well developed and expands from Estonia throughout the Baltics and to Sweden and Denmark.

Due to the high level of utilization of wood wastes from industry, there is competition for the resource which has prompted consideration of energy crop farming.  A few experiments on growing energy crops were performed in Estonia.

Forest residues could be further utilized for energy production.  This would be accomplished primarily through more efficient and more widespread collection efforts.  The level of collection of these residues depends highly on transport distances and the resulting delivered cost.  If the market price is too low to support the delivery cost, these residues are often left in the forest.

There is also potential for the production of biogas. 60 percent of manure produced in the Estonian farms could be used for biogas production yielding about 500 GWh of primary energy annually. Biogas is already produced in landfills and sewage treatment plants. So far unused resource is wetland plants (reed, cattail) growing on more than 6000 ha. Artificial wetlands, which work as sewage treatment systems are also excellent places for energy crop cultivation. There are a number of systems already functioning in Estonian villages. Wider use of reed and cattail for energy production is impeded by technical and logistical problems.

Total primary energy content of biomass in Estonia which could be used annually for energy production exceeds 20 TWh. Calculated primary energy content of willow plantations, agricultural waste, wetland plants and biogas is about 10,5 TWh/y, which is about 30 percent of fuels used in Estonia for electricity and heat production (36 TWh/y) in 2002.

Estonia Biomass Resource Data

Biomass resource type	Total production	Production density
Percent of total land area covered by
Forests	23%
Shrublands, savanna, and grasslands	0%
Cropland and crop/natural vegetation mosaic	68%
Urban and built-up areas	0%
Sparse or barren vegetation; snow and ice	0%
Wetlands and water bodies	8%
Primary crop production, tonne	(avg. 1999-2001, tonne)	(tonne /1000 Ha)
Total primary crops (rank among COO)	8,366,355  (16)	1,979  (12)
Top 10 primary crops
Grasses (misc), Forage & Silage	3,693,333	874
Mixed Grasses, Legumes	3,516,667	832
Potatoes	425,116	101
Barley	272,552	64
Wheat	122,132	29
Oats	90,527	21
Vegetables and Roots, Fodder	50,974	12
Rye	46,800	11
Rapeseed	36,172	9
Mixed Grain	23,686	6
Animal units, number	(number)	(number / 1000 Ha)
Cattle	287,400	68
Poultry	2,549,000	603
Pigs	306,050	72
Equivalent animal units	435,310	103
Annual roundwood production	(1996-98, 000 m3)	(m3 / Ha)
Total	5118	1210.8
Fuel	1163	275.1
Industrial	3955	935.7
Wood-based panels	261	61.7
	(1996-98, 000 metric tons)	(metric tons / Ha)
Paper and paperboard	48	11.4
Recovered paper	0	0.0

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There is minimal use of solar energy in Estonia for heat supply and electricity production. The solar energy resource potential is small in Estonia because of climatic conditions unfavorable for using solar energy and of northern latitudinal placement. The quantitative evaluation of this potential is given below in the tables for one point (Tiravere) located in the eastern part of the country.

Monthly and annual total solar radiation incident on horizontal surface, MJ/m²