Taavi Veskimägi, CEO of the Estonian transmission system operator for electricity and gas Elering warns that planned generation from offshore wind farms in Estonia exceeds the capacity of local grid.
According to Veskimägi, the society should consider what will happen to offshore wind units, because not all the power they are to generate will “fit into the Estonian system.”
“Determining the fate of offshore wind farms is the greatest challenge for society and the future coalition, .. [since] we only need one to two gigawatts for supply security in Estonia, while there is space for offshore wind farms with tens of gigawatts of power in our maritime territories,” Veskimägi said on ERR’s webcast, as quoted by the website on March 22.
According to Elering’s head, there will be an energy surplus in Estonia and in the entire Baltic region once all currently plotted wind and solar power plants come online. This may result in power oversupply and “cannibalism” between the plants, he argued.
“Given that solar and wind power plants have variable costs, meaning that they can be sold for zero on the market, which of course means that the investment costs of these solar and wind power plants must also be recouped at some point,” Veskimägi told ERR new outlet. “This could be a big problem, as these plants are +cannibalistic+ and … their profitability declines,” he continued.
The CEO of the operator expects a large-scale debate how to divide “risks and rewards” of offshore wind farms between “society and private developers” in Estonia and possibly in the region.
