Center Party chair urges government to build new oil shale power plant
Mihhail Kõlvart, chair of the opposition Center Party, has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform), urging the government to abandon plans to shut down the oil shale industry and instead focus on developing new oil shale-based electricity production capacities to ensure security of supply and affordable energy prices.
"Any other priorities in the energy sector must be considered secondary to ensuring the security of electricity supply, maintaining people's livelihoods and preserving the competitiveness of businesses. The recent EstLink 2 incident showed that, in today's security situation, energy security cannot rely on external connections," Kõlvart wrote.
According to the Center Party leader, oil shale is Estonia's only natural resource capable of producing controllable electricity independently of foreign sources, and there are no equivalent alternatives available now or in the near future.
"However, oil shale electricity can be produced in a much more environmentally friendly and efficient way than it is today. This has not been done so far only because of the plans to shut down the oil shale industry," Kõlvart added.
Replacing oil shale plants with gas-fired plants is not a reasonable solution, Kõlvart argued, because the volatile global security and economic landscape makes it impossible for Estonia to predict gas supplies or prices. Additionally, a power plant running on imported gas may not ultimately be significantly cleaner than an oil shale plant using modern technologies, a point also highlighted by Professor Alar Konist, Kõlvart noted.
"Energy security cannot be achieved through wind or solar power plants because their electricity production cannot be controlled and sufficiently large storage technologies have not yet been invented. Furthermore, using oil shale plants solely as a stabilizer for renewable energy is not practical, as the constant starting and stopping of oil shale plants is neither economically nor environmentally sustainable," Kõlvart wrote. "The notion that energy security can be guaranteed with uncontrollable electricity sources is currently nothing more than a political slogan and involves burying billions of euros in taxpayer money for subsidies and price guarantees. No scientifically substantiated calculations consider wind and solar parks a realistic solution for ensuring energy security."
Kõlvart pointed out that nuclear energy is the only alternative to oil shale that could meet Estonia's energy needs, but building a nuclear power plant would take at least 15 years.
Considering the above, Kõlvart proposed four necessary steps:
- Immediately decide to continue oil shale energy production for at least the next 20 years.
- Initiate negotiations and consultations at the European Union level to continue oil shale electricity production for economic and security reasons.
- Upgrade and repair existing power plants, including adding carbon capture technology.
- Construct a new oil shale power plant to cover Estonia's energy needs together with existing capacities, leaving external connections as emergency and temporary solutions only.
"In other parts of the world, people are beginning to recognize the risks and damages caused by unrealistic climate goals and are adjusting their previous plans accordingly. It is neither sensible nor affordable for Estonia to ignore reality," Kõlvart concluded in his letter.
The government began discussing ways to improve energy supply security at the start of January, following damage to the EstLink 2 submarine electricity cable. Three potential steps were outlined: adding €100 million to Eesti Energia's share capital to support the construction of a gas plant in Narva, bringing the Kiisa emergency power plant to market and exempting certain companies from renewable energy fees.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski
