Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Taavi Aas said on the Direct from the News website that he welcomes the debate on the construction of a new generation nuclear power plant in Estonia. According to him, there are also potential sites in Estonia where a nuclear power plant could be suitable - for example Kunda.
"I think we even have sites that are relatively undeveloped for such a station. Kunda, for example, has been suggested as a possible location. It takes into account the location of the site, it also takes into account that the capacity to transport the electricity already exists there," Aas said, adding that there could be other sites.
Minister of Finance Martin Helme proposed to start preparing amendments to the law and to make preparations for the launch of a nuclear power plant in Estonia by 2030.
According to Taavi Aasa, we are talking about a fourth-generation nuclear power plant. "It is too early to say today whether this is realistic in Estonia in 2030. Probably it could even be realistic, but it will entail a lot of legislative changes and a big social debate," Aas said.
"In this sense, it is right to start now, if we ever want to have such an opportunity to build a new generation of nuclear power plants here," he added.
Aas: energy security situation is turbulent
A few days ago, host Indrek Kiisler referred to the report on the security of electricity supply until 2025 presented by Elering, highlighting that the situation in our region is poor, as polluting power plants are being shut down.
Taavi Aas acknowledged that the situation is very turbulent at the moment. "After the synchronisation with Europe, there has been talk of additional opportunities for electricity from Central Europe, from Northern Europe, to start circulating and therefore we also have the opportunity to decouple from Russia". I have a question about how our energy security will be ensured in a situation where both in Scandinavia and on the European continent, coal plants and nuclear power plants are being closed down. And there is no energy surplus in Germany today," Aas discussed.
He said that synchronisation with Europe is right in principle, but today we are still in a situation where we are directly dependent on Russia for electricity.
Aas asked if there was a possibility that we would close our old oil shale power plants, and then replied that there was probably no such possibility today. "I think that these plants must be in reserve at least until 2025, even if they are not operating," Aas said.
"In the year 2025, we will be able to make the following decisions: are we guaranteed the amount of energy we need at any given time, or do we need to continue to keep these plants in reserve, or find other solutions, such as a fourth-generation nuclear power plant, to ensure Estonia's energy security," Aas said.
Aas: burning wood chips increases energy security
In order to burn wood chips in Narva power plants, they also need to be linked to Estonia's renewable energy support system, Kiisler pointed out.
Aas explained that the subsidy would be somewhere around €15 per MWh, and without it, it is not useful.
"If we can use woodchips, on the one hand people will get jobs, we can produce energy in an economically reasonable way, but it will also significantly increase our energy security," Aas said. He added that it will certainly change the price of wood chips.
According to the Minister of Economic Affairs, the draft bill to link the burning of wood chips to Estonia's renewable energy support system could reach the government's table as early as this Thursday. After that, however, it will have to wait for state aid approval from Brussels.
Last week, Timo Tatar, Deputy Secretary of State for Energy at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, spoke to ERR about the possibility of electricity generation from wood chips.
"Narva power plants are already burning some wood without any support. In order to increase the production of renewable energy, it is necessary to give Narva Power Plants the possibility to participate in the Estonian Renewable Energy Support Scheme. Today's Electricity Market Act excludes this possibility, or allows it only in the case of a statistical trading transaction. Therefore, it is necessary to amend the Electricity Market Act and, together with it, to amend the state aid authorisation," Tatar explained.
Aas: the time to abandon oil shale has come
"We have all realised that the time of pure shale power is coming to an end. These quotas for CO were still very clearly put in place with one idea in mind: to reduce the use of fossil fuels. And now that time has come," said Aas.
Aas stressed that in order for oil shale to be profitable, there must be miners, whose jobs are currently in the shale fields.
"Today, the closure of these boilers means the loss of around 300 jobs. However, these people may be needed in the future to produce shale oil. If we say to 300 people today, thank you, your services are no longer needed, they will quit that job and go on to something else. It is not possible to get 300 miners back," Aas said.
"If we want to go forward with this resource, we have to think about what we are doing today to have these people," he added.