Estonia and Latvia’s planned 1GW cross-border offshore wind project will be put out to auction in 2026, it was revealed this morning (Thursday).
The location of the first-of-its kind project will be decided next year, once a feasibility study has been completed, said Timo Tatar, Estonia's deputy secretary-general for energy, on WindTV at the WindEnergy Hamburg digital event.
Tatar, who WindEurope says is driving the energy transition in the Baltic state, explained that not only will the project connect with both Estonia and Latvia, but might also handle the output from other nearby offshore wind farms.
“The plan [is]… to create a hub where other projects in the region can join in. In that way, we see there is a potential for cost savings and also a potential that the electricity harvested in the sea will reach to the right place, not just simply to the closest point onshore,” he said.
This will ensure that the electricity reaches the regions that most need it at any given time, Tatar explained.
“It is really time that our TSOs — transmission system operators — around the Baltic Sea should come together and figure out what’s the right sequence of how to do it, how to plan it, what’s the best model, how to finance them,” he said.
Tatar added that Estonia and Latvia will offer “a so-called pre-cooked product” to the market. “We are taking care of thr analyses, the studies, creating certainty about the grid connections, and then it will be offered for the market participants [at auction] who will then build a wind farm there,” he explained.
The auction will then take place in 2026, with the project completed in the early 2030s, Tatar added.
