Minister: Tootsi wind-farm dispute ends as truce declared
A long-running legal dispute over a planned wind farm in southwest Estonia is now over, Minister of Finance Keit Pentus-Rosimannus says.
State energy giant Eesti Energia has opted to end the dispute with energy company Elering over the Tootsi wind farm in Pärnu County.
The compromise is the result of a changed energy market situation regarding renewables, including rising demand, the minister said.
Eesti Energia says it is engaged in drawing up the technical details of its decision. "Hopefully in the near future this announcement will come that the decision of the council has entered into force," the minister said.
The dispute revolved around Eesti Energia's qualification for state support of €53.7 per MWh based on the market price paid for by consumers, which Elering said could not apply to "older" wind farms, constructed before 2017.
In early 2021, Eesti Energia, who bought the plot of 160 hectares in 2020 for €51.5 million, over four times the opening price, said it would be taking Elering to court.
The prime minister had already called for an end to the dispute late last year in the interests of moving forward with renewables in Estonia.
Until Eesti Energia agreed to climb-down on the matter, a second-tier court had decided to pass it on to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for a preliminary ruling.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte
