Seven applications received to build offshore wind farms in Gulf of Riga
According to the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA), a total of seven applications were received for the establishment of an offshore wind farm in the Liivi 1 and Liivi 2 areas of the Gulf of Riga by the deadline on August 28.
Applications for the construction of wind farms in the offshore areas were submitted by Liivi Offshore OÜ, Aker Offshore Wind Europe GmbH, Viru Keemia Grupp AS, Sunly Wind OÜ, Edel Offshore Wind OÜ. A joint application has also been received from UAB "Ignitis Renewables Projektai 6" and CI NMF Estonia Sea I HoldCo Coöperatief U.A.
Along with the building permit applications submitted by OÜ Utilitas Wind on April 29, 2020, which were updated this year on June 16, a total of seven developers are competing for the Liivi 1 and Liivi 2 sites.
The Estonian Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA) will first verify that the competing applications comply with the Building Code before forwarding them to the relevant national authorities for an opinion.
After receiving feedback from the national authorities, the TTJA will assess the applications in accordance with the guidelines outlined in the Building Code.
For those applications that do meet the requirements, an auction will be conducted by the TTJA will no later than 60 days after the results of their evaluation have been confirmed.
The first auction is expected to take place in November or December this year. Applications, which do not meet the requirements will be rejected.
The starting price of the auction for the public body of water on which a wind farm will be constructed is €15,000 per square kilometer.
The size of the Liivi 1 site is approximately 77 square kilometers, meaning the starting price is around €1,155,000
The Liivi 2 site is approximately 115 square kilometers in size, with a starting price of around €1,725,000.
The winner of the auction will be the participant that submits the highest bid and pays the amount due. The winning application will also be subject to a building permit and environmental impact assessment procedure, which must take place within 90 days of the winner being announced.
Once the procedure has been launched, the successful applicant will be required to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) program in cooperation with a team of experts. This will be followed by studies of the site(s) and the production of an EIA report. The procedure will conclude with a decision made by the TTJA to grant a construction permit.
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Editor: Michael Cole
