The Estonian-Latvian Joint Hybrid Offshore Wind Project (ELWIND) has secured CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) funding for cross-border renewable energy projects from the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.
With a grant of €18.7m, the CEF Energy funding will support the pre-development activities of the ELWIND offshore wind project.
This will include environmental impact assessment studies and other technical studies, to get a thorough understanding of the conditions of the development areas and, therefore, de-risking the areas for future developers.
ELWIND said the Baltic Sea has great energy potential, and countries on its shores can play a more significant role in Europe’s green transition and in enabling better transnational electricity connectivity.
However, this requires the implementation of projects that are still on paper and the realization of an electricity grid connecting the Baltic Sea countries, it added.
Tõnn Tuvikene, ELWIND project lead from the Estonian side, said: “Offshore wind energy is seen as one of the cornerstones of the European Union’s energy market, the potential of which is far from being fully exploited.
Laura Štrovalde, deputy director in charge of investment and energy issues at the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia, added: “With this funding, we are ready to take the ELWIND project to the next phase and accelerate the region’s green energy transition.
“Close collaboration with our Estonian partners and receiving EU support will pave the way for further offshore wind project development, potentially benefiting the entire European energy market.”