Estonian businessman Endel Siff planning wind farm between Hiiumaa, Saaremaa

Photo: Artur Sadovski

Baltic Blue Energy OÜ, a company owned by Estonian business tycoon Endel Siff, has filed a building rights application with a view to setting up a wind farm between the western islands of Hiiumaa and Saaremaa, the regional newspaper Saarte Hääl said.

The offshore wind farm is to be built in the coastal sea between the southwestern coast of Hiiumaa and northern coast of Saaremaa. While the application names 388 wind generators with a total capacity of 2,716 megawatts, the actual plan is to build 1,999 megawatts of capacity, the paper said.

Karl Mägi, the planner of the wind farm, said the application concerns a bigger capacity and a larger area in order to be able to conduct wind surveys and choose the best locations. If some areas prove not suitable they will be left out of the final development plan and the wind farm's eventual size and capacity may turn out different as a result. Mägi said at least five years will probably be needed before construction can start.

"What will become of the project after the procedure of approvals and wind surveys is too early to say yet. How much the project will be cut back at the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Environment, to what extent agreements will be reached with municipalities – it's a very long road," Siff, a former high-profile oil transit businessman, said.

Another Estonian wind capacity developer, Andres Sõnajalg, has recently told the media that as a rule the creation of one megawatt of wind generating capacity now costs from 1.3 million to 1.5 million euros. AS Roheline Elekter, a holding of the Sõnajalg family, is planning to build a wind farm with a capacity of 255 megawatts in the territory of the Vaivara municipality in northeastern Estonia.