Estonia Receives Multiple Applications for Three New Offshore Wind Sites, Auction Expected in June

April 3, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

Estonia’s Consumer Protection and Technical Regulation Authority (CPTRA) is reviewing ten applications for three offshore wind sites west of Saaremaa. The Estonian regulatory body had already received one proposal for each of the three sites and opened a window for competing applications in January this year.

The ten applications were submitted by Estonia Offshore Wind DevCo (Ignitis Group), Deep Wind Offshore, and Utilitas Wind for all three sites – Saare 2.1, Saare 2.2 and Saare 3 – and by Sunly Wind for the Saare 3 site.

The CPTRA will now verify the compliance of the applications with the provisions of the Building Code and then refer them to the relevant state authorities for an opinion. After receiving feedback from state authorities, the CPTRA will evaluate competing applications under the guidelines outlined in the law.

Applications that meet the requirements will then move to the auction, which will be held no later than 60 days after the results of the assessment of applications have been confirmed.

The CPTRA expects to hold the auction in June 2024.

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The starting price of an auction for encumbering a public water body with a wind power plant is EUR 15,000 per square kilometre, according to the CPTRA. The size of the Saare 2.1 site is approximately 163.8 km² and its starting price is around EUR 2.5 million, the Saare 2.2 site covers some 88.5 km² and its starting price is around EUR 1.3 million, while the 20.1 km² Saare 3 site will have a starting price of EUR 301,500.

The winner of the auction is the highest bidder. The proceedings for a superficies licence and environmental impact assessment (EIA). will commence no later than 90 days from the announcement of the winner of the auction, the CPTRA says.

According to its press release from January 2024, when the application period was open, the initial proposals for each site the CPTRA received were filed by CI NMF Estonia Sea I (Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners), which applied for an up-to-1.7 GW offshore wind farm in the Saare 2.1 area; Ignitis Renewables, which proposed a 1,040 MW at the Saare 2.2 area; and Sunly Wind which submitted plans for a 149 MW project at the Saare 3 site.

On 3 April, following the closing of the deadline for competing proposals, the CPTRA said that it received a total of ten applications with Estonia Offshore Wind DevCo (Ignitis Group), Deep Wind Offshore, and Utilitas Wind submitting their competing applications for all three sites and with Sunly Wind competing for the Saare 3 area.