Elektrilevi's network service sales revenue amounted to €143.2 million, up 3.9 percent compared with the first half of last year.

Investments aimed at improving supply security and developing connection possibilities, meanwhile, decreased by 26 percent on year, amounting to €55.6 million; last year, Elering made investments worth €75.1 million.

This May, the amount of electricity fed into the network by producers exceeded the 639 megawatt (MW) mark.

"Over the last three and a half years, Elektrilevi has invested €444 million, which is significantly more than what the network service tariff allows," said Elektrilevi CEO Mihkel Härm. "As a result, our debt burden has increased by €97.7 million during the same period. It's clear that it isn't possible to continue taking out more loans indefinitely. Therefore, we've had to significantly reduce the volume of investments this year."

According to Härm, recent winters – but also this summer's heavy rains and storms – are a stark reminder that climate change is the new reality, bringing with it disruptions to electrical networks as well.

"We have to decide whether to continue investing in a weather-resistant network or focus on fixing outages," he acknowledged. "What is clear, however, is that building a weather-resistant network throughout Estonia requires investments that wouldn't be covered by the current tariff."

As of the second quarter of 2024, a total of 418 new electricity producers were added to the network. In all, there are 21,688 electricity producers in Elektrilevi's network, of which 12,468 are microproducers.

"We can see that the big production boom is over, and that nowadays connections are mainly being requested to cover one's own electricity consumption, and not for selling to the grid anymore," the CEO noted.

The total capacity of electricity production connected to the network is 889 MW. The maximum capacity fed into the network by producers in the second quarter was 639.5 MW, which was nearly 132 MW or 26 percent higher than during the same period last year.

"Elektrilevi has made significant efforts to connect producers to the network," said Härm. "In the second quarter, there were periods when distributed electricity production was so high that 53 percent of the electricity produced in Elektrilevi's network reached the main grid. The electricity produced in Elekrilevi's network is predominantly from renewable sources, which has also meant lower electricity prices for all of us."

The Estonian DSO's EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, totaled €22.8 million in the second quarter, or 25 percent less than in the second quarter of 2023. Total EBITDA for the first half of 2024 stood at €55.2 million, down 0.8 percent on year.

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