Estonia plans five to 10 gas plants, including Viljandi project

Estonia plans to build five to 10 gas-fired power plants within a decade to prevent the country’s electricity system from failing completely, ERR reported. One of the plants is proposed for Viljandi rural municipality.

Estonia’s electricity system has never experienced a complete blackout. To reduce that risk, the state says it needs more controllable generation capacity, including gas-fired plants.

“At present, there is only one place in the system from which the system can be rebuilt in the event of a blackout. The goal is to strengthen our energy security, make the system more resilient to crises and enable it to be restored more quickly from several locations at once,” said Karin Maria Lehtmets, head of the energy markets division at the Ministry of Climate.

State grid operator Elering has selected five regions where gas-fired power plants could be built. The locations were chosen based on their proximity to gas pipelines and electricity capacity. A tender to find developers is expected to be announced later this year.

“The tender will determine in which regions and at what scale the restoration capabilities will be created, so that the locations are distributed across Estonia,” said Erkki Sapp, a member of Elering’s management board.

Sakala Energia, a company linked to the Evecon energy group, has applied to the Viljandi rural municipality government to build a 200-megawatt gas-fired power plant on the Sõõrumaa property in Tõrreküla.

If the municipality adopts a detailed plan and issues a construction permit, Sakala Energia can participate in the state tender. The company is ready to begin construction in 2031.

“A power plant providing a restart service and restoration capability would certainly have a positive impact on consumers in the region. If there is an interruption, residents of Viljandi rural municipality would get their electricity back sooner. We also envisage a payment to the municipality based on the plant’s capacity, which it could use at its discretion,” Evecon chief executive Karl-Joonatan Kvell said.

Members of the Viljandi rural municipality council did not express direct opposition to the plant. However, the municipality also has no option to refuse to initiate the detailed planning process.

“The location has been chosen for economic reasons, and today it seems that the municipality does not have many opportunities to add to the discussion or argue about the location,” council chairman Kaupo Kase said.