Electricity system

The Elering-managed electricity transmission network connects Estonian power plants, distribution networks and electricity consumers into a single whole.

• Read more about the transmission system power lines.

The Estonian electricity system is part of the large synchronous operational united system BRELL, which comprises the AC power lines that connect Estonia with the neighboring countries of Latvia and Russia and their neighbors Lithuania and Belarus. Estonia is connected to Russia via three 330kV lines – two of these run from Narva to St Petersburg and Kingisepp and the third from Tartu to Pskov. We are connected to the Latvian electricity system by three 330kV lines – Tartu-Valmiera overhead line, Tsirguliina-Valmiera overhead line, and the third connection completed in 2021, formed by the Harku-Lihula-Sindi 330/110-kilovolt line and the Kilingi-Nõmme-Riga 330-kilovolt line section to the Estonian-Latvian border.

Since the middle of the last decade, Estonia has become increasingly linked to the Western European electricity system. In 2006, the EstLink 1 direct current interconnection between Estonia and Finland was completed, making it the first interconnection for Estonia and the Baltic states with Scandinavia. The second Estonia-Finland direct current interconnection, EstLink 2, was completed in 2014 and boosted the transmission capacity between the two countries to 1,000 megawatts. The Baltic states together with Finland, Sweden, and Denmark make up a single electricity market.

In the long term, Elering’s strategic objective is the electricity system’s desynchronization from BRELL and switching to synchronized operations with the synchronous grid of Continental Europe.

Elering as a system operator

Elering operates as the transmission system operator for the Estonian electricity network, with the task of planning the operation and managing the system in such a way that the network’s safe and reliable operation is always ensured. Besides enabling electrical energy transmission, Elering also has the task of balance handling to ensure a balance of consumption and production in the system at all times.

Estonia belongs to ENTSO-E, the European organization for national transmission system operators. The organization’s task, among others, is to improve transparency in the operation of the electricity market and system. The information system set up for this purpose is available at transparency.entsoe.eu.

To view the map of the ENTSO-E Northern European electricity transmission system, click on the following image.