Estonia Approves EIA for ELWIND Offshore Wind Project

December 9, 2024, by Adnan Memija

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) programme has been approved for the Estonian part of the ELWIND Estonian-Latvian cross-border offshore wind project.

The programme outlines the entire process of assessing environmental impacts, including the scope and methodology of studies to be conducted in the Estonian marine area, community involvement, and more.

In April 2024, Estonia’s Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (CPTRA) initiated the EIA for the ELWIND offshore wind project.

During the public display period and discussions, neighbouring countries, state institutions, interest groups, and individuals submitted their proposals, objections, and questions regarding the programme.

From 2024 to 2027, the Environmental Investment Centre (KIK) and the Latvian Investment and Development Agency (LIAA) will organize tenders to find contractors for specific studies.

ELWIND is a cross-border project to be built together by Latvia and Estonia, whose governments started discussions to develop it in December 2019 and signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to build the offshore wind farm.

In 2022, the two governments pinpointed the locations in their respective parts of the Baltic Sea where the joint project will be built.

The ELWIND project was initially planned to have a total capacity of between 700 MW and 1,000 MW.

However, in November last year, the Latvian government announced that the planned target capacity of the offshore wind farm on the Latvian side alone would be up to 1,000 MW.