Before it becomes fully operational, the plant will go through various testing phases.

Eesti Energia constructed the plant over a two-year period. To this day, over 200 million euros has been invested into the construction of the new oil plant, said a statement released by the company.

The plant will employ 80 people, including experienced specialists from Enefit Oil and Gas - Enefit being Eesti Energia's international brand name - and newly recruited workers.

By 2016, Eesti Energia is planning to develop a complex for producing liquid fuels from oil shale. Liquid fuels produced this way will have a higher quality than the currently produced oil and can be used as a motor fuel that meets current standards. For this purpose, the company plans to establish two more Enefit280 oil plants and a refinery.

One Enefit280 oil plant adds approximately two million barrels of shale oil and 75 million cubic meters of retort gas a year to the production capacities of Eesti Energia. The plant has an integrated 35 megawatt steam-driven turbine, which uses residual heat to generate electricity to run the plant.

The extended production of liquid fuels would employ around 500 people and would cover Estonia’s consumption of liquid fuels.