Land use

Planning a clearance corridor

Elering plans the construction of new power lines or gas pipelines primarily with the aim to:

• increase security of supply at the national level;
• improve energy security;
• facilitate the connection of generated renewable energy to the electricity or gas network.

The first step in establishing a new power line or gas pipeline is choosing its location. Depending on the project, it may be necessary to prepare a spatial plan and/or issue design conditions on the basis of which the clearance corridor is established. Within the corridor, the exact location of the power line or gas pipeline is determined using building design documentation. The landowner has the right to have a say in the selection of the location of the clearance corridor during planning.

Elering’s right to use land

Selecting a location with a spatial plan for a planned power line or gas pipeline does not yet give Elering, as the future owner of the installation, the right to use a specific immovable. The right to use land is primarily agreed upon in two ways:

• by entering into an agreement governed by private law with the landowner, on the basis of which a limited real right (personal right of use) is entered in the land register for the benefit of Elering, or
• through compulsory possession for the benefit of Elering. Compulsory possession is essentially the same as personal right of use, but the corresponding rights and obligations do not arise upon entry into a contract, but on the basis of a decision on compulsory possession of the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (CPTRA) in the case of designated spatial plans, and of the local government in the case of other spatial plans and design conditions. No notation is entered in the land register regarding this decision, but it will be made available to the public through the restrictions map application of the Land and Spatial Planning Board. Compulsory possession may be imposed both by agreement between the landowner and Elering and without reaching an agreement with the landowner.

The remaining registered immovable may also be used for the establishment, reconstruction and maintenance of a power line or gas pipeline, subject to an agreement with the property owner. However, the current owner of the registered immovable retains ownership of the entire registered immovable, i.e. the area of the registered immovable will not be reduced.

Elering, as the land user, must take into account the rights of landowners and use a registered immovable owned by someone else in a way that is as unduly burdensome as possible for the landowner. Among other things, Elering must restore the registered immovable to its former condition if it is damaged during use (e.g. repair the road surface damaged during maintenance of a power line or gas pipeline).

In most cases, the landowner has the right to continue to use the area of personal right of use themselves; only activities that could jeopardise or disrupt the planned activities of Elering as the land user or the infrastructure it has built are excluded (e.g. farming can generally continue under a high-voltage line under the conditions established by law, while planting and felling trees is prohibited).

Compensation for use of land

The landowner has the right to claim compensation for tolerating a power line or gas pipeline. The purpose of compensation is to (partially) compensate the landowner for the direct operational restrictions resulting from the construction of a line or pipeline on their land and the resulting reduction in opportunities to earn income. In practice, for example, higher compensation is paid for the use of forest land than for the use of agricultural land, since the current use of forest land is not possible under a power line and in its protection zone, while farming continues to be possible (taking into account certain restrictions, e.g. the height of vehicles). However, the aim is not to compensate for, for example, changes in views or the loss of the hypothetical opportunity for the landowner to build new buildings in the area of the protection zone.

The details of compensation to the landowner depend on the manner in which Elering obtains the right to use the land. If the landowner and Elering establish a personal right of use in a contract, whether and to what extent a fee is paid is part of the agreement. The same applies to the establishment of compulsory possession by agreement of the parties. In principle, in such a case, the nature of the fee (lump sum, periodic) and amount are freely negotiable, similar to other terms and conditions.

As a transmission system operator, Elering’s aim is to treat landowners as equally as possible, and therefore, when agreeing on compensation, Elering’s internal procedures are adhered to. On this basis, landowners are paid a lump sum compensation for the reduction in the use of the registered immovable. The lump sum compensation depends on the value of the registered immovable being used, the extent of the area of use, and any loss of income and direct property damage due to operational restrictions (e.g. due to destruction of forest, demolition of a building, extended access to a public road, etc.).

Estimated average lump sum compensations based on Elering’s internal procedures on the basis of price statistics of real estate transactions for the last year or expert assessment:

• Forest land (with forest) – the difference between the revenue from the cutting area (mature forest) and the revenue from the assortments cut in the protection zone is compensated according to the interim stock price of the State Forest Management Centre valid at the time of the assessment process. If, by law, it is no longer possible to grow a forest in the area of the right of use of technical infrastructure, the landowner is compensated for the usual value of the forest land within the area of the right of use of technical infrastructure.
• Agricultural land – as a rule, 33% of the market value of the area of the right of use of technical infrastructure is compensated.
• The tower installation fee is 500 EUR/tower.
• Administration fee 200 EUR.

The landowner is also paid a periodic fee that corresponds to the obligation to tolerate (toleration fee) provided for by law.

In a situation where an agreement cannot be reached with the landowner regarding the establishment of compulsory possession, the law provides that the landowner must be paid a periodic fee that is not greater than the statutory fee for the obligation to tolerate.