Last winter was quite lengthy and saw a near doubling in district heating prices in the Ida-Viru County town.

District heating involves hot water being piped into apartment blocks during "heating season," which just started and traditionally runs to the end of March.

Previously, a cogeneration power station had provided the service much more cheaply – hot water which was a by-product of the electricity generation station was then re-routed into the heating system.

Narva city government is also weighing up constructing a new heating pipeline between the city and the Auvere power station 20 kilometers to the west – again, hot water produced by the generation process could be used.

In the meantime, the city government is in talks with the Competition Authority (Konkurentsiamet) and relevant ministries to delay the inevitable price hike on district heating.

The city's mayor, Jaan Toots (Center), said: "My hope is that we can be able to prevent a price increase this year, and as for the future, there are several options: Do we lay new pipes or restart the Baltic power plant. There are many possibilities on the table."

Natural gas-powered district heating is reportedly environmentally friendly, but is costly to consumers.

Last year saw district heating prices in Narva rise by over 80 percent, and currently, the Competition Authority is reviewing a new price increase request from producers which could make Narva's heating among the most expensive in Estonia.

Constructing a heating pipeline from Narva to Auvere would cost more than €20 million, but, according to city officials, this would resolve Narva's heating price issues for over a decade, or for as long as oil shale electricity production continues at Auvere

Keeping the Baltic power station running through the winter is however extremely challenging under current market conditions, making the Auvere link attractive.

"There's enough heat to meet all our consumption needs," Toots said, with reference to Auvere.

Narva previously had the lowest district heating prices in Estonia before the city started using natural gas for heating, only to switch to one of the costliest – also no doubt a by-product of neighboring Russia's energy war and its effects on a town which is majority Russian-speaking.

The Baltic power station has been offline for some time due to oil shale generation not being as competitive as it once was.

Lauri Karp, a member of the management board of AS Enefit Power, a subsidiary of the state-owned Eesti Energia, told "Aktuaalne kaamera": "If the Baltic power station only operates for one day, that single day won't change the overall situation."

"Our big plan is for our natural gas plant, located on the Baltic power station's premises, to provide heat to Narva residents this winter. We are currently negotiating the price of heating," he added.

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