No. 44

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Green Transition, Energy, and Electricity Prices

08 December 2021

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RiTo No. 44, 2021

  • Timo Tatar

    Timo Tatar

    Deputy Secretary General for Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications

The article provides a survey of the ongoing green transition in the energy sector both in Estonia and in the world more widely.

It presents the reasons why we are making a green transition in the energy sector, and the importance of the role of politicians, other leaders of society as well as local governments in carrying out this transition. We get an overview of how far Estonia has progressed with the green transition in the energy sector and what the next steps and major challenges will be.

The decisions made in recent years will soon help release a large part of the land mass of Estonia from height limits, thereby creating favourable possibilities to establish wind farms. With regard to wind energy developments, Finland is a good example for us where wind farms are established on land without additional supports from the state. The green transition in the Estonian energy sector should also be as market-based as possible and with minimal state intervention. The measures prepared by the Ministry of Economic Affairs address in particular overcoming the barriers hindering market-based development, and supports come into play in the last stage. For example, the Estonian Government is preparing a joint procurement of green energy for public sector that is unique in the world. It would enable to transfer public sector energy consumption to more affordable renewable energy and at the same time to provide the necessary confidence to establish new renewable energy production equipment. Besides, a Bill proposing solutions that would help soften the resistance of local people to new wind farms will soon be submitted to the Riigikogu. In connection with the green transition, the issue of security of supply is gaining increasingly more importance. In the article, the author gives an overview of how and in what way electricity supply is ensured in Estonia.

It is not possible or reasonable to make a green transition alone and therefore it is important that the steps taken find followers elsewhere in the world. The author explains what our opportunities are to influence other countries in the world with our decisions and example.

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