Enefit Green, the renewable energy arm of Estonia's state-owned utility Eesti Energia, will build a solar park with around 3 MW capacity on a stone platform created during oil share extraction in the industrial area of Estonia Mine in Ida-Virumaa.
One of the biggest benefits of this location is that the waste rock platform eliminates the concern of shadowing, thus ensuring optimum energy generation by the panels.
"Pre-mined areas, as well as other low-value lands, are very suitable for building solar power plants. The development of renewable energy in industrial areas serves several environmental purposes," explained Enefit Green's Renewable Energy Project Manager Elise Johanna Lill. "For example, it offers the opportunity to use waste rock generated during mining as construction material and to supply the mine with green energy."
The company has plans to invest up to €2.7 million in the project. Construction is scheduled to begin in H1/2023, and the project is planned to come online in early 2024.
Enefit Green is currently building 258 MW of 4 wind and 3 solar parks in Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Finland. Additionally, in Q4/2022 the company made investment decisions to construct 336 MW worth nearly €450 million.
Enefit says it targets to make investment decisions for large-scale solar parks in Estonia and Lithuania with a total volume of over 200 MW as it aims to quadruple its green electricity production capacity in the next few years.
The Estonian company counts the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as its 1.5% stakeholder after the latter invested €11.8 million in its initial public offering (IPO) in October 2021 (see Europe PV News Snippets).