The Estonian government's decision to initiate the construction permit procedure for the Gulf of Riga offshore wind farm allows Eesti Energia to continue its research and search for partners for the construction of an offshore wind farm in the Gulf of Riga.
Eesti Energia, the state-owned international energy company that operates in Baltic countries, said that the Gulf of Riga offshore wind farm has the potential to become the first joint Estonian-Latvian renewable energy production project, as the Latvian-developed wind farm development area is only 10 km away from the Gulf of Riga.
"There is no experience of building an offshore wind farm in Estonia, so it is logical that an offshore wind farm of this size will be made in cooperation with several companies. The doors are open for partners to cooperate," said Aavo Kärmas, CEO of Enefit Green, a member of Eesti Energia group.
“Given the cross-border nature of potential cooperation, the importance of cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and its Latvian counterpart in agreeing on the infrastructure solution needed to develop the project should be emphasized here. We hope to continue the very good cooperation in this regard,” said Kärmas.
Eesti Energia started planning the Gulf of Riga wind park in 2009, and over the course of time primary wind measurements, seabed, ice and bird surveys have already been carried out. The process has been going on for almost 10 years since the launch of the Pärnu Marine Basin Plan in 2012, which was introduced in 2017.
Up to 160 wind turbines with a total capacity of 1000MW are planned for the offshore wind farm. The production of such an offshore wind farm would cover almost half of Estonia's electricity need and is an important step towards achieving climate neutrality in 2050.
The wind farm is expected to be completed before 2030 and the project is in full cooperation with the local community, including Kihnu and Häädemeeste municipalities and residents.