Published on February 27th, 2017 | by Susan Kraemer
February 27th, 2017 by Susan Kraemer
Dependence on Russianfossil energy is one weapon Putin has used to subvert democratic rule in neighboring nations. Like most of the worldspetro-states, Russia is anautocracy. But one nation having none of that is Estonia.
Gas dependence on Russia has negative consequences across the region. One is corruption, as the Kremlin and its proxies buy the political support of foreign leaders in order to maintain Russias predominant market position in their countries. In Ukraine, for example, a group of pro-Russian oligarchs grew rich off of gas deals as they subverted the effectiveness of Ukraines democracy.
This dependence has the effect of subverting youngdemocracies that depend on Russian gas.
Just the need for low, or at least affordable, energy prices encourages some central and Eastern European countries to follow the Kremlins line on foreign policy. In private, for example, Hungarian officials admit that a major factor behind the countrys pro-Russian statements and public declarations against sanctions on Russia is related to energy. Hungary hopes that its pro-Russian stance will win it lower gas prices, but the cost is to degrade the European Unions cohesion.
Hungary was for 20years a democracy. Now Hungaryhas reverted toautocracyunder strongman Viktor Orban.
But one of Russias border nations in the Baltic, Estonia, has taken a boldapproach. Estonia had beenimporting all of its natural gas for heating and hot water from Russia, but that ended last year.
In mid-2016, together with Lithuania, Estonia put a stop toits gas imports from Russia. Now Norways Statoil will instead provide gas for heat and hot water in the country.
Despite the challenges due to its position between European democracies and Putins autocracy in Russia,Estonia is looking to increase its clean energy capacity. Ithas already overshot its clean energy generation targets for 2020.
Starting almost a decade ago, Estonian developer 4Energia has been going through the environmental and technical permitting of what was proposed as a 700 MW to 1,000 MW wind farm northwest of the island of Hiiumaa in the Baltic Sea.
(4Energia is also known as Nelja Energia: Nelia means four, referring to four clean energy sources the firm plans to specialize in: wind, water, biomass and solar.)
Six years ago, the director of the Lithuanian Wind Energy AssociationSaulius Piksrys told Wind Energy Update:
The main challenge for the development of wind energy generation facilities in the Baltic States are vested interests among companies importing electricity from Russia. Powerful lobbyists are able to slow down the process significantly, even impeding the relevant law-making.
It has taken 4Energia years to develop the Hiiumaa Offshore Wind Farm. Finally, with all that paperworknow in hand, the last hurdle is financing.
Image Credit: Wikimedia: Baltic Sea off Estonia
4Energia has proposed to utilize the EUs cooperation mechanism to help finance the Hiiumaa Offshore Wind Farm, its largest Baltics project.
As a very small nation of just 1.3 million, it is not easy for Estonia to justify such a massive offshore wind farm that further overshoots its own country climate targets under the EU Directive. Estonia has already met its EU target of 25% renewable energy by 2020, and it exports surplus renewable energy to its neighbors.
One approach being taken to finding funding, is presenting the project as a way for another country that is not meeting its target to finance it under the EU Cooperation Mechanism, whereby:
Joint projects:Two or more EU countries can co-fund a renewable energy project in electricity or heating and cooling, and share the resulting renewable energy for the purpose of meeting their targets. These projects can but do not have to involve the physical transfer of energy from one country to another.
A partnership like this could be a win-win. An EU member state that is not able to meet its targets could be the financing partner. Financing a project elsewhere would qualify such a partner as having met its own 2020 target. Such an arrangement could also be beneficial in getting wind turbine orders from the array if financed by a nation with an industrial wind sector.
But the peculiar combination of factors that would be needed, of being at risk of not meeting its own target AND yet having its own growing industrial wind sector is an unusual combination.
The UK, or even better, France, might be a good potential financing partner. Both France and the UK are at risk of missing their targets but while the UK imports most of its turbinesfrom Germany, France is expanding its domestic wind manufacturing.
It is unrealistic to expect a small nation of 1.3 million like Estonia to set up its own domestic supply chain for building this offshore wind farm, even such a large one. Instead, the turbines, towers, nacelles and cables will be imported, with Germanys Enercon and Finlands WinWind acting as the main suppliers.
While 4Energia is the largest wind developer in the Baltics, to date its projects have been only on land.
Offshore wind development is generally more challenging than onshore, but the Baltic Sea does offer a relatively easy transition geologically, with a shallow and sandy seabed. Costs are lower in the sheltered Baltic Sea than in the more exposed North Sea, because lower wave heights reduce the costs of construction and ongoing maintenance. 4Energia will use ice-proof gravity-based foundations.
In turn, this ease of access for performing maintenance results in more productive hours of operation which further lowers costs again. 4Energia projects that the Hiiumaa Offshore Wind farm would have a very high capacity factor of approximately 50%, and promptand easy maintenance would be needed to achieve that.
In addition to 4Energias project, an equally ambitious Estonian offshore wind project has just begun the multi-year permitting process, this one in the Baltic Seas Riga Gulf.
Eesti Energija is the countrys state-owned primary power generator, distributor, and supplier. Its renewable arm just submitted its application to build another gigantic offshore wind farm south of Kihnu Island in the Bay of Riga. This too is proposed at a 7001,000-MW capacity. (Applicants seem to be given leeway in finalizing capacity in Estonia.)
In addition to these two huge offshore wind farms, another smaller project has made its application to begin its own environmental permitting. Neugrund, a startup firm, proposes to develop the Neugrund Offshore Wind Farm on Estonias North coast up by the Gulf of Finland. The planned capacity is between 100 MW and 234 MW.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Market in the Estonian old historic town of Tallinn
Estonia isexpanding its clean energy to the point of being a clean energy exporter, and has shifted its gas buys to state-owned Statoil, in the worlds only oil-rich liberal democracy, Norway.
The independent state of Estonia can only exist permanently in a space of democratic values, said Estonian president, Kersti Kaljulaid at this weeksEstonian Independence Day. A small state cannot function in a geopolitically tense place such as ours if it is internally undemocratic.
Related stories:
Why Putin Wants A Trump Kleptocracy Russian Military Threat Halts Giant Offshore Wind Project NATO Renewable Energy To Penetrate Into Russian Petro-State Who Benefits If Russian Oil Sanctions End? Trumps Lies Threaten Wind Techs: Fastest-Growing US Job
Buy a cool T-shirt or mug in the CleanTechnica store! Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech daily newsletter or weekly newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.
Tags: 4Energia, autocracy, Baltics, democracy, Eesti Energija, Estonia, Neugrund, offshore wind, Putin, Russia, WinWind
Susan Kraemer writes atCleanTechnica, CSP-Today and Renewable Energy World. She has also been published at Wind Energy Update, Solar Plaza, Earthtechling PV-Insider , and GreenProphet, Ecoseed, NRDC OnEarth, MatterNetwork, Celsius, EnergyNow, and Scientific American. As a former serial entrepreneur in product design, Susan brings an innovator's perspective on inventing a carbon-constrained civilization: If necessity is the mother of invention, solving climate change is the mother of all necessities!As a lover of history and sci-fi, she enjoys chronicling the strange future we are creating in these interesting times. Follow Susan on Twitter @dotcommodity.
Follow this link:
Estonia To Finance 1000 Megawatt Offshore Wind Farm At Hiiumaa - CleanTechnica
- Home | Discover Oil & Gas | Rigzone - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- Offshore - Wikipedia - December 8th, 2016 [December 8th, 2016]
- EscapeArtist - Live, Work, Travel, Retire & Invest Overseas - December 15th, 2016 [December 15th, 2016]
- Offshore installation manager - Wikipedia - December 30th, 2016 [December 30th, 2016]
- Offshore Energy 17 - January 12th, 2017 [January 12th, 2017]
- Offshore Drilling and Exploration - The New York Times - February 2nd, 2017 [February 2nd, 2017]
- Offshore - novenco-marine.com.php56serv2.webhosting.dk - February 5th, 2017 [February 5th, 2017]
- Further decline in North Sea offshore supply work - BBC News - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Japan ignores protests, begins offshore construction work on ... - RT - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Offshore Drillers Are Still Seeking Recovery Enjoyed by Shale - Bloomberg - February 7th, 2017 [February 7th, 2017]
- Offshore Profits and US Exports - Council on Foreign Relations (blog) - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Diamond Offshore Surprises Everyone With a Fourth Quarter Earnings Gain - Madison.com - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Dems: Don't repeal offshore tax rules - The Hill - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Offshore Wind Moves Into Energy's Mainstream - New York Times - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- Trump's Plan to Tap Offshore Profit for Infrastructure Gains an Ally - Bloomberg - February 8th, 2017 [February 8th, 2017]
- China Regulator Urges Insurers to Avoid 'Reckless' Offshore ... - Insurance Journal - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Perriello comes out against pipeline and, in a shift, says he is skeptical of offshore drilling - Washington Post - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- AGL to head offshore amid limited growth options locally - The Sydney Morning Herald - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Should Diamond Offshore (DO) Stock Be in Your Portfolio? - Zacks.com - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Wind Overtakes Coal Power in Europe as Turbines Head Offshore - Bloomberg - February 9th, 2017 [February 9th, 2017]
- Cuba Eager to Develop Offshore Oil Reserves | OilPrice.com - OilPrice.com - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Eni starts production of East Hub Development Project, offshore Angola - Offshore Technology - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- 'Fifty Shades Darker' Unmasks $22M In Offshore Foreplay International Box Office - Deadline - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Statoil looks to Newfoundland offshore after selling off all oilsands assets - Globalnews.ca - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Coalition urged to charge 10% royalty on offshore oil and gas projects - The Guardian - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Israel Puts Off License Award In First Offshore Oil, Gas Bid Round - OilPrice.com - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Cost Impact of Immigration and Visa Reform to US Customers Using Offshore Services - Forbes - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- These Offshore Drilling Stocks Are Up Big as Earnings Season Starts - Fox Business - February 10th, 2017 [February 10th, 2017]
- Offshore projects help raise profile of wind power in US, Europe - WorkBoat (blog) - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Shares of Seadrill Went in the Exact Opposite Direction of Other Offshore Drillers in January - Motley Fool - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- After selling off all oilsands assets, Statoil looks to Newfoundland offshore - Calgary Herald - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Oil and Gas Stock Roundup: The Outlook for Offshore Drilling Continues to Dim - Fox Business - February 11th, 2017 [February 11th, 2017]
- Diamond Offshore Surprises Everyone With a Fourth Quarter ... - Motley Fool - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Diamond Offshore Is A Hold - Seeking Alpha - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Trudeau: Arctic offshore drilling too dangerous - The Independent Barents Observer - February 12th, 2017 [February 12th, 2017]
- Don't Overlook This Cost-Effective Alternative To Offshore Services - Forbes - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Legislation could mean an economic boost in New Bedford offshore wind projects - SouthCoastToday.com - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Ontario signals extension on offshore wind project moratorium - BNN - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Oil Majors' Plans - No Relief For Offshore Drillers - Seeking Alpha - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- Director hits back at offshore worker blacklisting claims - BBC News - February 14th, 2017 [February 14th, 2017]
- OPEC Report: Pressure On Offshore Drilling Remains - Seeking Alpha - February 15th, 2017 [February 15th, 2017]
- UK Offshore Wind Construction Had Bumper Year In 2016, Barbour ABI - CleanTechnica - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Trump urged to back offshore - Offshore Wind | reNEWS ... - reNews - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Russian Spy Ship Spotted Offshore From Connecticut; Congressman Says Goal Is To Test US - CBS Local - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Australia Accused Of Committing Crimes Against Humanity In Offshore Detention Centres - BuzzFeed News - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- US Wind Secures Cabling Partner For MD Offshore Project - North American Windpower - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Professional Diversity Network: Offshore Investment Fund, Dropping ... - Seeking Alpha - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Vineyard Power vying for offshore wind farm - News - capecodtimes ... - Cape Cod Times (subscription) - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Liquidity Warnings Send Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc.'s Stock Plunging - Motley Fool - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Will Offshore Stymie Oil States? - Seeking Alpha - February 16th, 2017 [February 16th, 2017]
- Enbridge Partners with EnBW on 497-MW German Offshore Wind Project - Marketwired (press release) - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- JDR lands US offshore bounty - reNews - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Natural gas leaks from offshore pipeline in Alaska - Press Herald - February 17th, 2017 [February 17th, 2017]
- Halliburton's GRIP delivers rapid response to offshore source-control incidents - WorldOil (subscription) - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Model advances analysis of offshore BOP closure during extreme conditions - WorldOil (subscription) - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- IRS Cracks Down on Offshore Tax Cheats - CPAPracticeAdvisor.com - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Vineyard Power vying for offshore wind farm - Cape Cod Times (subscription) - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Offshore Yuan Exposed to Onshore Risks as Spread Narrows - DailyFX - February 18th, 2017 [February 18th, 2017]
- Offshore Somalia: East Africa's Oil Frontier - Midnimo Information Center - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Emas Offshore refinancing deal delayed - Splash 247 - Splash 247 - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- The Offshore Markets: 2016 In Review - Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Court Declines to Halt Long Island Offshore Wind Lease - RTO Insider - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Fuel the American economy with offshore energy - The Detroit News - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Congress says won't renew liquor licenses of offshore casinos in Goa - Times of India - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- An offshore deal for Indigenous people? - Policy Options (registration) - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Exclusive: Petronas considers $1 billion stake sale in offshore gas project - sources - Reuters - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- JDR wins US offshore wind farm work - OE Digital - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Offshore Drilling - 2 Floaters Needed In The Verbier Field And In The Partridge Prospect In UK North Sea - Seeking Alpha - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Rystad Energy Believes That Offshore Projects Are Becoming Competitive Again - Seeking Alpha - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- EnBW Hohe See 500 MW Offshore Wind Farm To Proceed With Siemens & Enbridge - CleanTechnica - February 20th, 2017 [February 20th, 2017]
- Offshore catering staff reject offer after phone ballot - BBC News - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Child abuse inquiry to hold limited public hearings into offshore ... - The Guardian - February 21st, 2017 [February 21st, 2017]
- Iberdrola Completes Installation Of First Turbine At 350 Megawatt ... - CleanTechnica - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Offshore drilling opponents re-gear for new round of battles | News ... - Charleston Post Courier - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Hornbeck Offshore Services: Too Many Problems Will Drag The Stock Further Down - Seeking Alpha - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- US grid can handle more offshore wind power, cutting pollution and power costs - Science Daily - February 22nd, 2017 [February 22nd, 2017]
- Fugro to conduct natural leakage survey in offshore Kenya ... - Offshore Technology - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Russia inks second Turkish Stream pipe offshore construction contract - New Europe - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- Trump to seek jobs advice from firms that offshore US work - Reuters - February 23rd, 2017 [February 23rd, 2017]
- W&T Offshore Expected to Reduce Net Losses in 4Q16 - Market Realist - February 24th, 2017 [February 24th, 2017]