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Summary
This section covers the permitting and authorization process for the following RES technologies: wind onshore, biomass, PV (both rooftop and ground-mounted).
Estonia plans to increase its share of renewable energy technologies in its final energy consumption to 42% by 2030. In the electricity sector, the share of renewables is planned to rise to 40% by 2030 (Estonian NECP, 2019), in comparison, according to Eurostat, the 2019 it was 22%. The estimated installed solar energy capacity is expected to increase over 4 times, from 100 MW in 2020 to 415 MW in 2030. An exponential growth is also foreseen in the wind energy sector, with the capacity roughly also growing four times from 310 MW in 2020 to 1200 MW in 2030. The contribution of biomass to renewable energy targets in the electricity sector is expected to be maintained roughly at the same level and share to increase only by a very slight margin, from 1150 GWh in 2020 to 1200 GWh in 2030 (Estonian NECP, 2019.)
The permit and authorization procedure can vary in length according to the specific technology, as well as the size of the project - as often authorization is simplified for installations under a certain capacity. Permitting and authorization is the most complicated for wind onshore; for rooftop PV, the least authorizations are needed. -
Sequential order of process steps
1. Site selection
2. Electricity production licence
3. Administrative authorization
4. Grid connection
5. Corporate legal-fiscal (not mandatory) -
Competent authorities
- Ministry of Defence
- Transport Administration
- Local municipalities
- TSO Elering
- DSOs
- Estonian Competition Authority
