The Tootsi plot was not allocated to Eesti Energia on market terms, which should have been required to be established by means of an auction, the association says.

"Private companies have paid several times more for the development of similar wind farms in a tender, which puts them at a competitive disadvantage compared to state-owned companies and leads to monopolization of the market," it stands in the complaint.

Eesti Energia announced a procurement tender in September for the design and construction of a wind farm in the Tootsi Suursoo area of exhausted peatlands in southwestern Pärnu County which would include 38 turbines.

The Estonian government decided to give the plot to Eesti Energia as noncash consideration worth 4.1 million euros.

The Estonian Wind Technology Association argues that, judging by the costs incurred by private developers of the Aidu wind farm in Ida-Viru County, each wind turbine plot should cost 493,218 euros, meaning a total price tag of 18.7 millin euros for the land involved in the Tootsi wind farm project. This means that Eesti Energia is receiving each plot 4.5 times cheaper than the market price.

On a per-hectare basis, the sum total would be more than 48 million euros.

According to the association, Eesti Energia gets the land effectively for free because the noncash consideration brings with it no expenses for Eesti Energia and the company is thus obtaining an unlawful competitive advantage. Interest rates for the state-owned company are likewise lower than for privately held companies.

The facility planned for Tootsi would be the largest wind farm in Estonia.

The Estonian Wind Technology Association has 35 Estonian businesses as members who together control 74.5 percent of the existing and projected wind energy capacity of Estonia connected to the electricity grid.