It seems that the climate minister has fallen into a trap carefully set by the builders of offshore wind farms, because how else to explain the intention to start paying them a hefty subsidy in a situation where we have unused significantly more favorable solutions, said Lauri Laats, deputy chairman of the Economic Committee of the Riigikogu.
“Establishing onshore wind farms is significantly cheaper and faster, and developers have expressed their willingness to build them even without state subsidies. If the onshore wind farms are built in the planned volume, we will be able to cover a very large part of Estonia’s average annual electricity consumption. The establishment of offshore and onshore wind farms should take place on an equal basis and without subsidies. The technology has developed so much and the awareness of the builders of wind farms has increased that the taxpayer does not have to pay for it,” said a member of the Center Party faction. Lauri Laats.
According to Lauri Laats, Estonia’s energy portfolio should be as diverse as possible, so that we can ensure stable and affordable electricity for residents. “The country should primarily focus on speeding up the process of establishing onshore wind farms and removing obstacles. In addition, additional money must be directed to network connections so that the produced electricity reaches consumers in the largest possible volume and people should not be without electricity for days due to extreme weather conditions,” he said.
Lauri Laats added that if the construction of offshore wind farms should come into question at all, then only after the construction of onshore capacities, but before that a thorough analysis should be made of the impact it will have on the migration of fish and birds and the fishing sector. “Only a small part of the electricity produced in offshore wind farms reaches the mainland. It is mostly an export-oriented project, and until we have guaranteed security of supply in Estonia, we as a country should not direct funds there,” said the deputy chairman of the Center Party.
