Estonia

The country’s Ministry of Defence has decided to ban large scale solar plants in some regions bordering Russia claiming that these facilities may affect radio system performance. State-owned utility Eesti Energia is opposing this measure, stating the interested regions are the most suitable for the construction of big solar plants.

Estonia relies heavily on oil shale, which accounts for 4% of the country’s GDP. The Baltic state is working to increase green hydrogen production, but PV is projected to maintain a marginal role despite the recent growth. We spoke about it with Estonian energy company Alexela and cleantech start-up PowerUP Energy Technologies.

AGN has commenced blending renewable hydrogen into part of its natural gas distribution network in Adelaide and Snam tested a 30% hydrogen/natural gas blend in the forging processes used in industrial steelmaking. Furthermore, Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and other potential Brazilian partners participated in an evaluation mission to develop the hydrogen-focused technical cooperation project H2 Brazil with German development agency Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

The winners in the Baltic nation’s first clean energy auction will be announced by June 20. With the exercise rated according to the expected output of the facilities allocated, the government has committed to procure 5 GW worth of facilities, from a total 16.3 GW offered by bidders.

The Baltic nation installed 90 MW of PV last year, four times more than it had done since it began adopting solar. The growth was down to a new regulation issued by the government in June and the big push came mainly from small installations.

With new amendments to the Electricity Market Act, the Baltic country will now have its first technology-neutral auctions for renewable energy projects ranging in size from 50 kW to 1 MW, its feed-in premium scheme limited to generators up to 50 kW (which may favor solar), and more chances to create direct lines with single final customers.

The Estonian state-owned power utility announced its plans to enter the solar energy business in September. The company has now commissioned a 200 kW rooftop solar power generator, which will sell power to a local farmer under a 25-year PPA.

The company will offer solar leasing solutions as well as turn-key projects for self-consumption.

The Estonian government plans to replace the current FIP scheme for renewable energies with an auction mechanism within the next few months. The country’s installed PV capacity reached 10 MW at the end of 2016.