In 2022, Estonian power plants produced 2,569 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of renewable energy, reports the country’s electricity and gas transmission system operator Elering. Overall, we are talking about one per cent less than in 2021. And, indeed, the amount of renewable energy receiving subsidies decreased by five per cent in the last year, reaching a total of 1,623 GWh.
However, solar power saw the biggest growth for yet another year as the amount of the produced electricity grew by more than half – from 305 GWh to 506 GWh. The subsidy amounts increased in the same volume as 26 million euros were paid in subsidies for electricity produced via solar power in 2022.
As of the end of the year, there were more than 14,000 installations of production equipment for solar power with a production capacity of 506 megawatts (MW), of which production capacities in the volume of 418 MW have been registered in the subsidy plan.
Regarding other sources, biomass, biogas and waste contributed to 54 per cent of the production of renewable energy last year: 1,378 GWh of electricity were produced from these sources and subsidised in a total amount of 37 million euros.
Wind power contributed to 26 per cent of the total production of renewable energy in 2022. A total of 664 GWh of electricity was generated from wind. Due to less favourable wind conditions, the production of wind power decreased compared to the previous year and as a whole decreased by nine per cent over the year. The maximum limit established for subsidised wind power – 600 GWh per calendar year – was not met.
