Saturday blackout may have caused Eesti Energia €100,000 in damages
While income not received from the production of electricity and oil is still being calculated, Estonian state-owned energy group Eesti Energia may have suffered up to €100,000 in damages as a result of a shutdown of an energy production unit and an oil plant caused by a failure at an Elering-owned substation just outside of Narva on Saturday.
Eesti Energia spokesperson Priit Luts told BNS on Monday that the electricity and oil not produced and income not received as a result of the blackout are in the process of being determined.
There are no fines originating from Nord Pool market rules, he continued. Possible fines or increased expenses will originate from general market regulations, such as acquiring balance energy.
Eesti Energia board member Raine Pajo told ERR that the extent of the damages can be estimated to total €50,000-100,000. He was unable to say, however, whether a damage claim would be submitted to Elering as well.
The Competition Authority launched supervision proceedings over transmission system operator (TSO) Elering AS in connection with a blackout that occurred in Narva, Narva-Jõesuu and Sillamäe on Saturday, May 18.
The goal of the investigation is to determine the case of the blackout as well as whether it constituted a violation of the Electricity Market Act, the Competition Authority announced on Monday.
"As this was a serious blackout, it is the authority's job to draw conclusions based on what happened, and issue recommendations regarding how to avoid similar incidents in the future," Competition Authority Director General Märt Ots said.
Transformers in an Elering substation near the border city of Narva shut off as a result of a fire on Saturday, leaving a significant portion of the population of Ida-Viru County without power. The substation failure also led to the shutoff of the 8th energy block of Eesti Energia's Eesti Power Plant and Enefit280 oil plant.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla