The European Commission has approved an amendment to an Estonian scheme supporting electricity production from renewable energy sources and efficient co-generation.
Estonia informed the European Commission of its plan to increase the budget of the scheme by €650 million (US$709.7 million), bringing the total budget to €1.37 billion. The scheme stated that renewables and efficient co-generation installations can receive support in the form of a fixed feed-in premium to the market price.
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The premium on top of the market price was set at €53.7 per MWh for electricity produced from renewable energy sources, including electricity produced in combined heat and power systems using renewable energy sources.
Another premium was set at €32 per MWh for electricity produced in highly efficient combined heat and power systems using natural gas, retort gas, peat and municipal waste.
The European Commission said that the amended Estonian scheme remains “necessary, appropriate and proportionate to help Estonia reach its renewable energy targets and contribute to the EU’s objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, without unduly distorting competition”.
The scheme was originally approved by the European Commission in October 2014 and amended in December 2017.
Estonia has been increasing its solar capacity, including two PV investment projects that were established for over 500MW.
Enefit Green has confirmed the final decision on the 74MW Sopi solar PV project in Estonia, into which it will invest approximately €44 million (US$47 million). The first investment was part of a larger, almost €350 million investment into the Sopi region alongside the 255MW Sopi-Tootsi wind farm, while Finnish investment fund manager Dasos Capital signed a framework agreement with renewables developer OX2 for a portfolio of 10 solar PV projects in Estonia. The first five projects are forecast to exceed 500MW capacity.