This rise in EBITDA was put down to higher-than-average network service sale prices, compounded by lower costs of lost electricity in comparison with 2022, Elektrilevi announced on Tuesday.

The company reported a sales revenue rise to €287 million, a 19.3 percent increase on year.

Commenting on the results, Elektrilevi's CFO, Kristi Ojakäär, said: "The higher network service sales price allowed us to recoup the losses incurred from the cost of lost electricity in 2022."

"However, operational costs in 2023 were higher than the operating expenses included in network fees, including the maintenance and repair costs of network equipment and facilities, which totaled €31 million in 2023, of which €21.8 million was included in network connection fees," Ojakäär added.

Elektrilevi reported that it invested a record sum of €167 million in 2023, targeted at improving supply reliability and developing connection opportunities for producers.

This was the highest investment for the last five years, while from 2024, Elektrilevi's workforce increased to 850 employees.

The company has addressed the issue of faults which can result during stormy conditions, at any time of year.

Elektrilevi CEO Mihkel Härm said: "As of the end of 2023, Elektrilevi had increased the proportion of weatherproof network to 74.1 percent of the total, and we built a total of 1,440 kilometers of weatherproof grid network last year."

"We have invested twice as much into improving reliability of supply, and developed connection opportunities for producers, as we did five years ago," Härm went on.

Last year the 5,363 new electricity producers, with a total capacity of 222.8 MW, were hooked up to the Elektrilevi grid.

This represented a fall of 8.4 percent on year, but even so, capacity increased by 83.2 percent.

As of 2023, Elektrilevi's network boasted 20,925 electricity producers with a total capacity of 830.2 MW (this includes small domestic producers who sell excess electricity to the grid which they generate, for instance via their own solar panels or wind turbines – ed.).

"In 2023, we saw a sharp drop in connection applications: From 16,000 to 7,000, indicating the passing of the boom [in domestic electricity product] and a stabilization of the market. Challenges continue to relate to investments required in connecting new producers; continuing at the level of last year's investments requires a fundamental change in tariff methodologies," he continued.

The network service sales volume was 6,541 GWh.

Compared to the previous year, the sales volume decreased by 3.5 percent.

On this, Kristi Ojakäär said: "The decline in sales volume was primarily influenced by difficult economic conditions, resulting in a 5.7 percent decrease in consumption by business clients."

"The largest fall occurred in the timber industry sector. Domestic customer consumption decreased in the spring and summer of last year, but consumption increased in the second half of the year, leading to an overall 2.2 percent increase," the Elektrilevi CFO noted.

Elektrilevi is Estonia's largest network grid distributor and has a near monopoly on connecting to both domestic and commercial customers in Estonia.

It is in turn owned by Eesti Energia, the state-owned energy generator.

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