Enefit Green: One wind farm would create up to 300 jobs
Aavo Kärmas, the head of energy company Enefit Green told ETV morning program Terevisioon Tuesday that wind farms will create a lot of jobs for local communities, and that 250-300 workers would be employed in the completed offshore wind farm.
"Jobs are being created during the construction phase. Offshore wind farms also need labor at a later stage. A one-gigawatt wind farm means constant work for about 250 to 300 people when the wind farm is ready. The wind turbines need constant maintenance. This would offer jobs for harbors, accommodation facilities, etc.," Kärmas said.
Kärmas said that the wind turbines would not cause noise disturbance, because they would be built 10 to 15 kilometers from the coast.
Kärmas said that he understood the local opposition to the construction of wind farms.
"In the case of communities, the most important thing is to involve them immediately and they must be involved immediately at the beginning of each project. People have ignorance and ignorance creates fear. They should be clearly told what a wind farm means and try to answer all the questions," Kärmas added.
Kärmas said that wind turbines are the way to produce energy with the smallest ecological footprint. "All studies have shown that wind energy has the smallest CO2 footprint. And in the case of offshore wind farms, it has even been said that an offshore wind farm will reduce the CO2 footprint, which was created in preparing it in six months," he said.
Kärmas added that several special plans are currently underway in Estonia - "In Tori municipality, Saarde municipality in northern Pärnu county. At present, there are four areas in Estonia where a building application has been initiated," Kärmas said.
"Currently, a maritime spatial plan is being approved in Estonia, which provides for more areas. This does not mean that all the windmills in these areas will be full. These are just areas where they are said to be suitable and research should be started there," he added.
Kärmas said that today there are a total of 144 wind turbines with a total capacity of 320 MW, in Estonia.
"It has been said that there could be an additional 180 wind turbines with a capacity of 1,100 MW on land in Estonia, and 60 to 80 wind turbines with a capacity of one GW, offshore," Kärmas said.
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Editor: Roberta Vaino
