EstLink 3 development to require strengthening of transmission system in several places in Estonia

Elering has submitted to the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture an application to initiate the national designated spatial plan for carrying out an upgrade of the transmission system on land in connection with the establishment of the EstLink 3 connection between Estonia and Finland. Also this week, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority initiated proceedings for a superficies license that will allow construction at the point where the submarine part of the EstLink 3 cable comes ashore at Hara Bay in Lääne-Nigula Rural Municipality.

The existing transmission network will have to be strengthened to accommodate the new power link between Estonia and Finland. A new high-voltage substation will be needed in Tallinn, to be connected by new overhead lines to the 330 kilovolt (kV) substations in Aruküla and Kiisa.

According to Elering board member and Head of Asset Management Reigo Kebja, Elering’s transmission network development plan forecasts an increase in power consumption in Tallinn for 2024-2033. “In connection with the additional capacity flows and general electrification due to the establishment of EstLink 3, the existing grid in the Tallinn area does not have a high enough capacity in light of future perspectives, which is why an additional substation must be built. To connect it 330 kV overhead lines must be built up to Kiisa and Aruküla substations,“ Kebja said regarding the need for the grid reinforcements.

The new substation will be located in the area of Lake Ülemiste, with the exact location determined in the course of the national designated spatial plan proceedings.

In addition to the construction of the new lines, the existing 330 kV overhead lines between substations at Kiisa and Rakvere, Rakvere and Püssi, Paide and Sopi, and Sopi and Sindi will be renovated. In the course of the renovation, the parallel 110 kV lines will also be mounted on the same pylons, which will help lower environmental impact and save on the future costs of maintaining the corridors and lines.

EstLink 3 consists of the direct current cable line connecting Estonia and Finland and the converter stations at each end of the cable. On the Estonian side, the planned EstLink 3 will be made up of the DC submarine cable, the land part of the cable, a converter station in Lääne-Nigula Rural Municipality near Aulepa, and a new 330 kV overhead line on land, connecting EstLink 3 with the existing 330 kV grid in western Estonia.

The third electricity interconnection with Finland will further contribute to the security of supply, achieving climate and energy policy goals, and bind the Baltic and Nordic countries into an even more cohesive market area.

The national designated spatial plan is initiated by the Estonian cabinet and implemented by the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture. EstLink 3 is a European Project of Common Interest and is planned to be established using EU funds and congestion income, meaning that the costs will not be passed on to consumers in the form of a rise in the total electricity price.

The Estonian and Finnish TSOs signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 28 June 2022 in which the launch of work on EstLink 3 was agreed upon.

Estonia currently has two electricity interconnections with Finland – EstLink 1 at 350 megawatts (MW), running from Harku substation in Estonia and completed in 2006, and EstLink 2 at 650 MW, which is connected to the transmission system at Püssi substation and was completed in 2014. 

The planned direct current power rating of EstLink 3 is 700 MW. The planned completion date is 2035.

More information about the connection: EstLink 3 | Elering

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Possible location of the Kiisa-Järveküla-Aruküla circular line

LEGEND

PLANNED OVERHEAD LINE

PLANNED SUBSTATION

EXISTING OVERHEAD LINE

EXISTING SUBSTATION

Existing grid must be reinforced in connection with the building of EstLink 3—general plan of the grid.