Elering wants a long-term support scheme to get new power plants built
The transmission system operator has opened a public consultation on a mechanism to secure supply after 2033. No new charge will be added to consumers' bills.
All years as a table
| Year | Revenue | Profit | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 300 514 000 € | 21 742 000 € | 326 |
| 2024 | 214 282 000 € | 15 659 000 € | 309 |
| 2023 | 244 748 000 € | 28 037 000 € | 287 |
| 2022 | 386 975 000 € | 17 414 000 € | 262 |
| 2021 | 201 457 000 € | 5 108 000 € | 253 |
| 2020 | 137 068 000 € | 25 302 000 € | 234 |
| 2019 | 142 115 000 € | 32 887 000 € | 246 |
Elering, the Ministry of Climate and the Competition Authority are asking market participants, investors and consumers for proposals by 12 November on a new scheme to support electricity capacity. According to ERR, the aim is to secure supply after 2033, because more dispatchable generation will leave the system in the next decade than the market builds on its own. At the same time consumption is growing and new risks appear, such as lost interconnections with neighbours or a long, still and cloudy period with little wind and solar output.
Estonia's supply security is currently assured. The country has agreed that up to eight hours a year when all consumption might not be covered is acceptable to society. According to Elering's supply security report from last year, that standard may go unmet in future, and the EU electricity market regulation then lets the state step in and create a technology-neutral capacity mechanism.
Erkki Sapp, a member of Elering's board, says revenue from electricity sales alone does not give investors enough certainty to build a plant or storage unit needed for only a few hours a year. That creates a risk that capacity is missing exactly when it is needed most.
The plan works like this: first the amount of firm capacity the system needs is calculated, then a reverse auction is held in which the bidder willing to keep capacity available at the lowest price wins. Winners get a capacity payment on top of market revenue and commit to being available when needed. If their market revenue exceeds an agreed limit, the payment may shrink; failing to deliver brings a penalty. Power plants, energy storage and demand-response solutions can take part.
Estonia has state-aid approval to use a strategic reserve until 2035, but Elering says that is not enough: a plant in the reserve may not trade on the electricity market. An analysis commissioned by Elering finds a market-wide mechanism to be the only solution that gives a long-term investment signal for new capacity and prevents working plants from closing early.
The first auctions could take place from 2028, but consultations must be held first, laws amended and state-aid approval obtained from the European Commission. Auctions would not be held every year, only when the market lacks enough dispatchable resources. Consumers would ultimately cover the costs under a nationally approved allocation method, but Elering says no new line will appear on bills: costs are covered from the existing supply security fee, and payments start only once the procured capacity is ready, 2033 at the earliest.
According to the business register, Elering had revenue of €300.5 million in 2025, a profit of €21.7 million for the year and 326 employees.