The Foresight Center's calculations indicate that for an average of 130 days a year, the amount of energy supplied to the grid by households is greater than the amount of energy taken.

When it comes to "prosumers" (who both consume and produce – ed.), that are legal entities, rather than individuals, the amount of energy supplied to the distribution grid is greater than the amount consumed on 96 days per year.

Most of Estonia's prosumers are households, while a fifth are legal entities. A quarter of the prosumers that are legal entities are non-profit cooperatives, including energy cooperatives. Prosumers operating as foundations, non-profit associations or non-profit cooperatives are also common.

Foresight Center expert Märt Masso said that households are nearly 18.8 megawatt-hours of electricity per year short of being able to cover their total electricity needs. Meanwhile, prosumers who are legal entities fall short by an average of 155.4 megawatt-hours per year.

"However, even partial energy independence helps households manage their energy costs and contributes to creating an energy economy with a smaller environmental footprint," said Masso.

According to the report, as a rule, the production capacity of households is smaller than that of prosumers who are legal entities. In both cases however, the most common amount of production capacity is in the 5-10 kilowatt (kW) range.

Generally, higher production capacity means that for more days per year, the amount of energy supplied to the distribution grid is greater than the amount taken.

"Prosumers in Estonia produce solar energy, the productivity of which greatly depends on the season," said Masso. "This means that increasing the production capacity alone is not enough to cover a households' energy needs and so storage solutions are also necessary, which are likely to become more affordable every year."

Both the production and consumption patterns of prosumers vary considerably, however. For example, in the case of households, the balance of production and consumption is greater for those who live in newer dwellings built after 2000. For prosumers who are legal entities, it is larger companies (in terms of the number of employees or turnover), which have the greater balance.

The short report "An overview of electricity production and consumption of households and businesses" is part of the Foresight Centre's research stream "Active Consumers in the Future Energy System" and can be found (in Estonian) here.

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