Overview

Estonia is one of the most energy independent countries in the EU due to domestically mined oil shale, which accounted for 56 percent of Estonian energy in 2020.  Biofuels – mainly woodchips – account for 26 percent of energy, gas is 7 percent, other renewables are 6 percent, and other fossil fuels are 5 percent. 

Estonia has a country-wide smart metering network using Ericsson equipment that came online in 2017. In April 2020, together with other European grid operators, TSO Elering organized a Europe-wide competition to select pilots of innovative energy products and services leveraging smart meter data.

The largest ongoing energy project in Estonia is the desynchronization of the Baltic States from the BRELL grid shared with Belarus and Russia and synchronizing with continental Europe through Poland. The synchronization of the Baltic States’ power system with the Continental European Network is expected to be completed by 2025.

In the wake of Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, Estonians are moving to stop buying Russian oil and gas. The private companies Alexela and Infortar are building an LNG terminal in Paldiski, which is scheduled to receive a FSRU by late autumn 2022. The LNG is expected to be mostly of U.S. origin.

To achieve renewable energy goals, Estonia is planning two large-scale (1,000 MW each) offshore wind projects in Liivi Bay between Estonia and Latvia by 2030. Estonia is also exploring hydrogen and nuclear solutions to meet long term clean energy commitments.

Leading Sub-Sectors

• Energy saving and storage technology
• LNG
• Smart grid technology

Opportunities

Information on government procument opportunities in the energy sector are availble on the EU Tenders Electronic Daily site.

Resources

Estonian electricity generating company Eesti Energia

Electricity and gas TSO Elering