Renewable energy covered 16.8 per cent of total electricity consumption in previous year

Production of electricity from renewable sources in Estonia totalled 1612 gigawatt-hours last year, which is 14 per cent more than in 2016. Renewable energy production covered 16.8 per cent of total consumption, compared to 15.1 per cent in 2016.

Estonia has set an objective to increase the share of electricity produced from renewable sources to 17.6 per cent by 2020. The milestone in 2017 was 15.2 per cent.

In the fourth quarter of last year, renewable energy covered 17.6 per cent of Estonia’s total consumption. The figure for the same period in 2016 was 17.9 per cent.

The amount of subsidised renewable energy grew by 11 per cent compared to last year to 1460 gigawatt-hours.

Total renewable energy production from biomass, biogas and waste last year was 56 per cent. A total of 908 gigawatt-hours were produced from these sources during the year. In 2016, the amount of energy produced from the same sources totalled 785 gigawatt-hours.

Wind energy provided 42 per cent of total renewable energy production in 2017, and wind farms produced a total of 670 gigawatt-hours of electricity, but the limit set on subsidies for wind energy production—600 gigawatt-hours—was not met last year. Wind energy production grew by 13 per cent last year. Average wind speeds on the Pakri peninsula and on Virtsu were a quarter higher than those measured in 2016.

Hydro energy output was 29 gigawatt-hours last year. The largest increase in comparison with 2016 continued to be in solar energy—production volumes nearly doubled to five gigawatt-hours, and subsidies increased in the same amount, increasing to an annual total of more than 311 000 euros. This is still a marginal portion of the total subsidies paid out. The number of subsidised solar panel owners is approaching 900, with 250 being added during the year. It is known that there are almost 1200 solar energy producers, but some of those consume all of the energy they generate, and do not receive subsidies.

Power stations producing a total new capacity of 38.5 megawatt-hours were added to the Elering grid in 2017, and over the year, they produced a total of 36 gigawatt-hours of electricity.

Subsidies for CHP production fell 21 per cent compared to 2016 to a total of 3.5 million euros. Subsidised production of electricity produced under efficient CHP mode fell from 140 gigawatt-hours to 110 gigawatt-hours.

In total, renewable energy and CHP subsidies in 2017 totalled 78.3 million euros, which is 13 per cent more than in 2016. The total amount of subsidies paid was close to the forecast made at the end of 2016, which was 79 million euros.