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Thursday, 25.04.2024, 01:53
Estonia: Elering to conclude EUR 140 mln accord with Commission on synchronization funding
The first stage of the synchronization investments and the
Balticconnector project decided upon earlier are unique in that they have been
awarded cover for the maximum possible rate of 75 % of planned
costs, Elering said.
"Over the past seven years, Elering and partners have
raised some 560 mln euros of European Union funding for strategic energy
projects. This amount comes in addition to the general package of support
allocated to the Estonian state," Elering CEO Taavi Veskimagi said.
The financing agreement will enable Elering to announce
already in the near future the first design procurement for the overhaul of 330
kilovolt overhead power lines starting in the Narva area and heading to Latvia
near Valga. The first construction tender is expected to take place next year
and construction activity will start in the winter of 2021.
As part of the project, Elering will reconstruct the Balti
Power Plant-Tartu, Tartu-Valmiera and Viru-Tsirguliina 330 kilovolt overhead
lines, overhaul control systems and install new voltage stabilization
equipment, including the first synchronous compensator in Estonia. The overhaul
will increase the throughput capacity between Estonia and Latvia by 700
megawatts.
Elering and the transmission system operators of Latvia and
Lithuania, AST and Litgrid, are to invest some 430 mlns euros in total in the
first stage of the synchronization projects, of which CEF financing will make
up 323 mln euros. The Estonian part of the investment is 187 mln
euros. The portion of costs not covered by CEF support will be paid by
Elering using money earned through auctioning of cross-border transmission
capacities.
The goal of the Baltic countries is to synchronize their
electricity network with that of Continental Europe by the end of 2025.