Elering: no shortage of electricity expected this winter, new measures needed in the medium-term perspective

According to the security of supply report of Elering, the availability of generation capacities is better this winter compared to last year. In the medium-term perspective, Elering is prepared to use the strategic reserve and offer solutions to market participants in order to ensure sufficient investment security for creating new on-demand capacities.

According to Kalle Kilk, Chairman of the Management Board of Elering, there is a clear plan for ensuring the security of supply – in addition to market-based generation capacities, a sufficient volume of on-demand capacities will be held on standby in Narva power plants based on the expectations of the owner over the next few years. These will be replaced in 2027 by the strategic reserve and newly created flexible generation or storage equipment. Elering is currently preparing the respective procurements. In the next decade, other types of capacity mechanisms may need to be implemented in addition to the abovementioned temporary mechanisms.

Elering stands by its view that Estonia must have at least 1,000 megawatts of on-demand capacity in order to secure the security of supply in the next few years. If consumption and the use of renewable energy continue to grow in the next decade, the need for on-demand capacities also increases slightly.

“The operations on the market must be interfered with as little as possible and as much as needed. In other words, the resources of the existing power plants must first be exhausted when ensuring the security of supply. New capacities that are entering the market should only be supported if this is absolutely necessary. Bearing in mind the finances of electricity consumers and our society, we need the least expensive solutions. Any support given will have to be paid by us as consumers in the end,” said Kilk.

The transmission network managed by Elering is operating at an exemplary level and customers continue to receive more than 99.99 percent of energy. Regardless of the difficult circumstances, Elering has been able to keep the projects for developing the network that are required for separation from the Russian power grid and connection to the power grid of Continental Europe on schedule as initially planned, or has even adopted an accelerated schedule. Considering the ambitious goal for renewable energy in Estonia for 2030, Elering is making preparations for reinforcing the Estonian electricity transmission network at a rapid pace in order to add new generation and storage capacities to the network.

“When it comes to network management, we have created the prerequisites for managing the situation where Russia unilaterally separates the Baltic countries from the currently unified electricity system. We will be able to ensure the stability of our system and join the Continental European system without undue delay. We are building our digital muscle for handling the complex geopolitical environment as well as distributed generation, the prominence of renewable energy, and the increasing complexity of business processes,” said Kilk about Elering’s other measures for ensuring the security of supply.

The new security of supply report of Elering is available on the website.