Renewable electricity has accounted for half of Eesti Energia’s – Estonia’s largest energy producer – total production in the first quarter, the company announced; this is the first time for renewable energy to exceed the oil shale energy.
“Renewable electricity accounted for half of the electricity production, which showed a 14% annual increase due to better wind conditions and good reliability of wind farms. The other half of the production was formed by electricity from oil shale, oil shale gas and waste,” Eesti Energia said in a statement.
The company said the share of electricity produced from renewable and alternative sources increased to 61 per cent of the total production as a quarterly average. “In the first quarter, Eesti Energia’s CO2 emissions decreased by 65 per cent to the level of 0.9 million tons. In two years, carbon emissions have decreased almost fourfold, which has helped make Estonia the fastest carbon emissions reducer in Europe,” the company said.
Investing in renewable energy
Eesti Energia also said it invested €69 million over the quarter, the “lion’s share of which was the investment made in the development of renewable energy”.
The company warned that, due to the coronavirus crisis, in the coming quarters, most countries will face an economic crisis that will have a direct impact on energy consumption and prices.
The state-owned Eesti Energia, founded in 1939, is Estonia’s largest energy producer and the second largest company in the country. Its main source of energy production until now – oil shale – is extracted from mines located in eastern Estonia.
Cover: A wind park owned by Eesti Energia.
