EBRD lends €100 million to Enefit Green to boost renewable energy production in Estonia

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  EBRD lends €100m for 255MW Sopi-Tootsi wind farm in Estonia
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  The project will increase Estonia’s electricity generation capacity by up to 10 percent
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  Sopi-Tootsi Wind Park to Save 480,000 Tons of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Per Year

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is lending €100 million to Enefit Green to build and operate the 255 MW Sopi-Tootsi wind farm in Estonia. The new wind farm will increase the country’s electricity generation capacity by up to 10 percent as the country takes steps to meet the ambitious greening goals of the European Union (EU). Parallel financing of €180 million has been provided by the European Investment Bank, with additional funding coming from a commercial bank.

Enefit Green is one of the largest renewable energy companies in the Baltics and has been an EBRD client since 2020. The company owns and operates 587 MW of installed green capacity and 50 MW of thermal capacity in the Baltics, Finland and Poland. Following partial privatization through an initial public offering in October 2021, the company’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Tallinn Stock Exchange and are held by almost 64,000 investors. It remains the majority shareholder of Eesti Energia, the Estonian state-owned energy company, while the EBRD holds a minority stake.

The Sopi-Tootsi project is an integral part of Estonia’s strategy to increase renewable energy production in light of the global energy crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war, which has highlighted the need for stable, secure energy supplies. Accelerating the deployment of renewable energy is the only sustainable path to replacing fossil fuels and achieving energy independence.

Estonia is one of the EU’s most carbon-intensive economies, with oil shale accounting for about 57 percent of the country’s energy mix. Estonia’s National Energy and Climate Plan aims for renewable energy to account for 65 percent of gross domestic energy consumption and 100 percent of electricity consumption by 2030. The country aims to be climate neutral by 2050, and Enefit Green has a key role to play, with a goal of providing 2 GW of renewable energy by 2026 and 6 GW by 2030.

Grzegorz Zielinski, Head of Energy Europe at EBRD, said: “We are pleased to strengthen our long-standing partnership with Enefit Green and continue to support its ambitious green investment strategy. The Sopi-Tootsi wind farm will be the largest in Estonia, so the investment is strategically important to accelerate the country’s long-term green transformation and reduce its dependence on oil shale. We look forward to building on our achievements to date and maintaining this momentum in renewable energy.”

Veiko Räim, Board Member and CFO of Enefit Green, said: “We are delighted with our ongoing cooperation with the EBRD and deeply appreciate the trust and support it provides to our company’s development. In 2020, its support allowed us to expand our operations to Poland and with this new financing we continue to build the largest wind park in Estonia. Our construction activities are progressing rapidly at several development sites, in particular at the Sopi-Tootsi wind park, which is our largest project. With more than half of the 38 turbines installed, the project remains on track, underlining our commitment to promoting Estonia’s green transformation and achieving our strategic goals.”

EBRD is one of the leading institutional investors in Estonia. Since its inception in the country, the Bank has invested almost USD 1 billion in 115 projects.