Estonia receives nine bids in final renewable electricity auction

Estonia’s sixth and final state-organised renewable electricity auction has attracted nine bids from seven companies, offering almost one terawatt-hour of production, ERR reported.

The auction aims to bring 990 gigawatt-hours of new renewable electricity to the market, covering about 11–12 percent of Estonia’s current annual electricity consumption, according to preliminary results organised by the Ministry of Climate and conducted by Elering.

Bid prices ranged from 24.18 to 43.38 euros per megawatt-hour. The final number of successful bids will be determined after the proposals have been checked for compliance with the auction requirements.

Winners will receive support for the amount of production they have offered. The support will be paid for up to 12 years, at a maximum of 20 euros per megawatt-hour produced. No support will be paid if the electricity exchange price during a 15-minute trading period exceeds 45 euros per megawatt-hour.

Elering is checking all submitted projects. After the compliance review, it will select the successful bids and submit a list of compliant bidders to the Ministry of Climate by November 3, 2026. The government is expected to approve the final results at the end of 2026.

Successful bidders must begin generating electricity by December 31, 2030, at the latest.

“Electricity market data showed that renewable sources accounted for 71.7 percent of electricity produced in Estonia during the first half of 2026, while renewable electricity covered 42.1 percent of the country’s electricity consumption. Wind power accounted for only 23.6 percent of production,” said River Tomera, head of Elextra, Elering’s renewable energy unit.

Tomera said the auction, which is aimed at bringing wind power onto the market, would increase renewable energy production and lower electricity prices during the autumn and winter, when wind energy production is above average.

Energy and Environment Minister Andres Sutt said a TalTech analysis found that Estonia would be best suited to an additional 100–110 wind turbines.

The auction is the largest in Estonia’s history and the last renewable electricity auction. According to Sutt, the next onshore wind farms will be built on market terms without direct state support.