By the year 2030, energy generation from wind turbines and other renewable energy sources are expected to match Estonia's annual consumption. Innar Kaasik, a board member at Estonian state-owned Eesti Energia subsidiary Enefit Green, considers this unlikely due to time constraints.

"Given that 2030 is just a few years away, this will be very difficult to achieve," Kaasik highlighted.

"In discussions with Estonian developers, there is readiness to participate in state auctions (for onshore wind farms)," he said. "A lot of wind farm sites are already developed. Enefit Green itself has new pre-development projects in the works. The previous government's planning processes were shortened, but 2030 is still right around the corner, and it's going to be difficult to finish construction by then."

The Ministry of Climate, however, believes that the 2030 goal is achievable.

"Right now we've planned that by 2030, we'll have enough onshore wind farms and solar panels completed to generate renewable electricity at the necessary volumes," said Rein Vaks, director of the ministry's Energy Department. "Offshore wind farms likely won't be completed by then."

The Climate Ministry has calculated that by 2035, electricity consumption will double, from 8 terawatt-hours (TWh) to 15.4 TWh. Estonian transmission system operator (TSO) Elering, meanwhile, forecasts consumption to only reach 11.3 TWh by then.

Vaks confirmed that they are aware of Elering's forecast, and noted that the 15 TWh figure is a purely mathematical calculation of what would cover the subsidy needs of additional offshore wind farms.

"It's the optimal amount of consumption that would enable us to support renewable energy from offshore wind to the extent of 2 TWh," he explained. "Again, this assumes new consumption in the country, new industrial enterprises, new jobs. This is our forecast, from the perspective of ensuring the most favorable possible electricity prices."

In this case, the end price of electricity would remain around 17 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), and the renewable energy charge around 1.3 cents per kWh. Without the arrival of new energy-intensive undertakings (EIUs), electricity would cost more.

"If we don't get as many consumers, then of course we won't achieve this, but this is the collective effort that we all have to make," the ministry official underscored.

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