Nelja Energia wind energy co not to build new wind farms in Estonia

Photo: AXEL SCHMIDT/AFP

Since increasing the existent production capacity would lift production above the amount eligible for support, Estonia's biggest wind energy producer Nelja Energia isn't planning to build more wind farms in Estonia.

«The current support ceiling of 600 gigawatt-hours a year determined by the law is still in effect which is why we are not planning to build new wind farms in Estonia, at least not on dry land,» CEO of  Nelja Energia Martin Kruus told Postimees.

Since the Nordic power exchange system is meant for power stations already built the scheme does not support building new plants, said Kruus in whose judgment investing against the market price does not pay off. «We definitely won't be making a profit purely with the income from the power exchange,» he said.

Kruus believes however that the current support system has outlived its time and new projects should be with an auction-based approach.

In his view all the electricity could be produced in Estonia using renewable energy resources if the main load would be covered with biomass and wind energy would be added. The production cost of this solution would be about 85 euros per megawatt-hour and Kruus admitted that Estonian residents wouldn't be able to pay it.

The consolidated output of the group's wind farms was 409 gigawatt-hours in 2012.

In 2012 Nelja Energia received renewable energy support in the amount of 8.7 million euros or more than twice the amount of 2011.

Nelja Energia earned a profit of nine million euros last year, 85 percent more than the profit of 4.9 million euros posted for 2011. Sales revenue totaled 37.5 million euros in 2012, being three times bigger than the year-earlier 12.4 million euros.