Eesti Energia CEO: Data centers benefit the power system
Eesti Energia CEO Andrus Durejko told ERR that data centers help balance the energy system. In his assessment, Estonia will not introduce nuclear energy before 2040.
Durejko noted that the energy consumption of Google and Microsoft data centers planned in Finland is almost as high as Estonia's total peak demand.
"The 200-megawatt Microsoft data center will feed waste heat from its processors into Espoo's district heating network. An additional €200 million investment has been made to put that heat to use. Solutions like these can generate economic benefits while also benefiting society. This is definitely a direction we should follow and, where possible, emulate," Durejko said.
"On the positive side, we are also seeing the first signs of data centers in Estonia, which I am pleased about. I wish Estonian investors strength and perseverance — this needs to be done," he added.
According to Durejko, Estonia has enough electricity to serve the planned data centers. He noted that the Greenergy data center will add 20 megawatts of demand, making it Estonia's second-largest electricity consumer after Estonian Cell.
"When that 20 megawatts of demand comes online in December, there will be greater demand on the market in winter and one more energy consumer. This development will help us address the summer energy surplus, but it will make things more difficult in winter, meaning the energy deficit will deepen. Overall, however, it is beneficial for the energy system because the price signal enables new investments," he said.
"The winter problem will inevitably remain and we also have oil shale-fired power plants to deal with it. When prices are high, they can cover that peak in demand," Durejko added.
Eesti Energia expects electricity consumption in Estonia to increase over the next 10 to 15 years.
"The fact is that electricity use is growing and replacing all other forms of energy. The question, of course, is how that electricity is generated," Durejko said.
"At the same time, parallel processes are underway: Better and more efficient equipment is being introduced, but all in all, electricity consumption in society is still growing. This has left its mark on our strategy. Since we all want a clean environment, increasing the share of clean electricity is certainly a priority," he said.
According to Durejko, in the long term, nuclear power is one of the few viable options for Estonia.
"Technological solutions that reduce the negative aspects of nuclear energy will certainly improve, but we do not see nuclear energy being introduced in Estonia before 2040. The alternatives available today, however, are relatively inadequate," he said.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski, Valner Väino
Source: "Esimene stuudio"
