Estonian state-owned electricity producer Enefit Green AS has signed a $191.93 million (€180 million) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for a wind farm project expected to supply about 40 percent of the country’s annual household electricity consumption, the parties said.
The Sopi-Tootsi onshore wind farm in North Parnu County has a capacity of 255 megawatts, the largest wind farm under construction in the Baltic state, according to the company. It consists of 38 turbines, he pointed out Announcement of the indebtedness of the bank of the European Union.
“The wind farm will increase domestic wind production by 80 percent, while reducing the country’s heavy reliance on oil shale,” EIB Vice President Thomas Ostros, head of the EIB’s business in Estonia, said in a statement .
The EIB’s press release said: “The new facility will provide green energy equal to the average annual electricity consumption of more than 197,000 households and will be located mostly in cohesion regions, where per capita income is below the EU average , underlining the EIB’s commitment to equitable growth and the convergence of living standards.
“The investment will boost economic growth and jobs, and is part of the EIB’s dedicated package of support for REPowerEU, the EU’s plan to end dependence on fossil fuel imports.”
The 27-member bloc launched REPowerEU on 18 May 2022 outlining measures for Russian energy independence. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU declared on 11 March of that year the phasing out of fossil fuels from its traditional exporter by 2027.
In support of REPowerEU, the bank last year committed $18.4 billion (€17.06 billion) in financing for sustainable energy projects, according to an EIB press release from February 2023.
“The EIB’s green financing increased substantially again to €36.5 billion (58 percent of the total), meaning the Bank delivered on its commitment to dedicate at least half of its resources to action climate change and environmental sustainability, well ahead of its target for 2025”. , the Luxembourg-based lender owned by EU states said in the announcement on February 2, 2023, referring to last year’s achievements. “Overall, the EIB Group is on track to reach its target of supporting EUR 1 trillion [$1.07 trillion] in green financing this decade, since it has already supported 222,000 million euros [$236.74 billion] in investment of the last two years”.
EIB President Werner Hoyer said in a statement about the 2022 figures: “At a time when the US is implementing the largest green subsidy program in history, it is imperative that Europe follows suit and follows through the course, both for the sake of our planet and to safeguard the competitiveness of our economies.” Hoyer was referring to the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden on August 16, 2022.
Announcing the loan approval, Enefit said it is currently building five wind farms and three solar farms in Estonia, Lithuania and Poland with a combined capacity of 608 MW. “In 2023, the hybrid solar and wind farm Purtse in Estonia and the solar farm Zambrow in Poland have been completed and put into operation with a total capacity of 62 MW,” said the company, a subsidiary of Eesti Energia AS. “Over the next six months, the 43 MW Silale II and 75 MW Akmene wind farms in Lithuania, the 72 MW Tolpanvaara wind farm in Finland, the 6 MW Debnik solar farm and the 3 MW Estonian solar in Poland and Estonia, respectively.”
“Enefit Green has a clear roadmap to quadruple production capacity by 2026 to increase the supply of affordable green energy and improve energy security,” Enefit CFO Veiko Raim said in a statement .
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