February electricity production grows a third year-on-year

Domestic electricity production grew by a third to 991 gigawatt-hours in Estonia compared with a year before.

The growth in production was helped by lower levels in Nordic hydroelectric reservoirs, which resulted in significantly higher wholesale prices in comparison, thereby improving the competitiveness of Estonian electricity producers. Production from fossil fuels increased in February by 42 per cent year-on-year, but production from renewable energy sources fell by eight per cent.

Electricity consumption grew by one per cent compared with February 2016 to 754 gigawatt-hours. Thus, electricity production exceeded domestic consumption in February by 31 per cent, giving an electricity balance surplus of 237 gigawatt-hours. At the same time a year ago, the physical balance of the Estonian electricity system was four gigawatt-hours in deficit.

The share of electricity produced from renewable sources totalled 13.9 per cent of total domestic consumption in February.

Electricity trade imports fell by 64 per cent to 187 gigawatt-hours compared with February last year. Trade exports fell during the same period by 17 per cent to 419 gigawatt-hours. In the monthly overview, a total of 233 gigawatt-hours was made available for export in the Estonian electricity trade balance.

In Latvia, electricity production also grew significantly, while production in Lithuania fell by a tenth in the same period. Total electricity production in the three Baltic States grew by 27 per cent in comparison with last year to 1793 gigawatt-hours, covering 80 per cent of total consumption in the Baltic States. More than a third of domestic production deficits were covered through imports from the Nordic countries via Sweden and Finland.

In the Nordic countries, electricity production and consumption fell by three percent. The total electricity production and consumption balance in the Nordic countries saw a surplus of 558 gigawatt-hours.