ELWIND was granted EU funding to carry out technical and environmental impact assessment studies.
On 11 July, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) unveiled its decision on receiving funding from 2023 Connecting Europe Facility cross-border renewable energy projects Call for Proposals. ELWIND is among these two successful projects. CINEA will allocate the requested 18,8 million euros to cover the costs for the studies needed to research the marine area in both countries in the pre-development phase.
The studies in the pre-development phase are planned to be carried out with the support of European funding. The studies will include environmental impact assessment studies and a number of technical studies, which will provide the later project developer with the necessary information on the conditions of the marine areas. ELWIND was included in the European Union’s list of priority cross-border renewable energy projects (C-B RES) already in August 2022 alongside two other major projects, which provided an opportunity to apply for further funding this spring.
ELWIND could become one of the role models for hybrid offshore wind park projects to be developed in the future. ‘Offshore wind energy is seen as one of the pillars of the European Union’s energy market, the potential of which is still far from being realised,’ Tuvikene said.
Currently, the ELWIND offshore wind park project is still in its early planning stages, and the project promoters have set a goal to complete all pre-development studies by the end of 2026. ‘The ELWIND project is another step towards enabling better connectivity in our region and should be seen as one of the first elements of the future Baltic Sea super-grid,’ Tuvikene emphasised.
Background information
ELWIND is a cross-border project of Estonia and Latvia for developing of an offshore wind park project in the Baltic Sea. It is an ambitious and environmentally friendly renewable energy project that will increase the region’s energy independence and security and will help to keep energy prices at a reasonable level, thus reducing costs for businesses and households. In addition, it creates new business opportunities in the value chain. ELWIND will help to fill the gap in local large-scale renewable energy production and will be contributing to a better functioning of the open energy market.
The role of countries in the implementation of the project ends with the organisation of a more or selective tender, i.e. an auction, which transfers the building rights to a qualified developer. The countries plan to reach the auction in 2027.
The ELWIND project is implemented by the Estonian Ministry of Climate, the Latvian Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Environmental Investment Centre in Estonia, and the Latvian Investment and Development Agency.
