The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications is Starting to Revise the Development Plan for the Energy Industry

On Tuesday the leaders of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, the Estonian Development Fund, Elering and Enterprise Estonia signed a joint protocol of intent expressing the goal of conducting the research, analysis and surveys that are needed by the energy industry.

The majority of the goals and actions in the development plan for 2020 are either in progress or already ending, and so new targets need to be set. “The energy industry needs long-term planning and we need to look to 2030, with long-range planning as far out as 2050”, said Juhan Parts, the Minister for Economic Affairs and Communications.

The development plan also needs to be updated following changes in the general environment in recent years. The financial crisis and the general state of the global economy have made the approach to climate and energy policy more pragmatic both worldwide and within the European Union.

“The key for Estonia is to find balance in energy questions”, said Parts. “We need to find a way of compromise that balances the price of electricity, environmentally sustainable power generation and security of supply”.

The new programme will be led by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications working with Enterprise Estonia, the Estonian Development Fund and Elering to define long-term development scenarios and to create the knowledge base that is needed so that strategic choices can be made by the management groups within the network of partners. The network of partners that is being set up to work on the development programme will include the top experts from the public, private and voluntary sectors and from education.

The development scenarios will approach different ways of ensuring Estonia’s security and diversity of supply and will focus on looking to add further value to the nation’s domestic energy resources. This demands that the efficiency of the energy industry be improved and the environmental impact lowered, and that education in engineering and science be promoted in Estonia to support current and future technology.

“An intelligent and forward-looking energy policy gives a strong base to our competitiveness, and so we are helping our energy and environment teams to agree an Estonian energy policy for the key issues of the future and to take the lead globally”, said Ott Pärna, head of the Estonian Development Fund. “We are also offering one of the Fund’s traditional strengths to our partners, our broad involvement of various partners and our high quality debates supported by international experts”.

The protocol was signed for the Ministry by Minister Juhan Parts, for the Fund by Chairman of the Board Ott Pärna, for Elering by CEO Taavi Veskimägi and for Enterprise Estonia by Chairman of the Board Ülari Alamets. The protocol of intent enters into force today and the ministry plans to revise the development plan during the coming year.