Estonia is betting all-in on sustainability and diversification, committing to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030 and becoming climate-neutral by 2050. As the topic only becomes more and more important and, by some points of view, more difficult, energy transition and clean energy solutions are key themes discussed in the Spring 2024 issue of Life in Estonia.

Estonia is doubling down on its ambitions, putting together new projects across wind, solar, and even hydrogen. Nuclear power is expanding too: Fermi Energia has the plan to launch Estonia’s first small nuclear power plant by 2035.

Eesti Energia will build the company’s first large-scale storage system at the Auvere industrial complex later this year to balance the fluctuations in electricity prices caused by the growth in renewable energy production and to support the stability of the electrical system. This is a pilot project to make sure the solution is suitable both in Estonia and the company’s other retail markets.

In fact, Estonia is scheduled to be decoupled from the Russian electricity system in 2025, after which the Baltic electricity grids will have to manage their own frequencies. Storage solutions will help to ensure that the electricity system is operational, which means that the balance between consumption and generation, and frequency must be guaranteed.

The capacity of the large-scale energy storage device is 26.5 megawatts and 53.1 megawatt-hours, which corresponds to the daily consumption of about 6250 households. The storage devices can be used for a wide range of purposes, and the stored electricity can be traded on several electricity markets. This makes storage devices a little more flexible than solar or wind energy.

This project is a pilot project, which means that the energy company wants to convince it is possible to design similar storage facilities outside Estonia, in particular in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland.