Estonian energy company Evecon and asset manager Mirova have opened a 77MW solar park (pictured) in the country, located in Kirikmäe in Pärnu County.
The Kirikmäe park, spread over nearly 110 hectares, is more than twice the capacity of the largest existing solar park in Estonia, according to the pair.
The Kirikmaë Park is owned by the Baltic Renewable Energy Platform (BREP), a JV set up by Evecon and Mirova in December 2022, for the financing, the construction, the operation of a portfolio of more than 100MWp of Solar Parks in Estonia.
It covers the estimated annual energy needs of 35,000 households.
Karl Kull, chief executive of Evecon, said: “The construction of the Kirikmäe solar park is a landmark event for the entire Baltic region due to the size of the production unit and the scale of the investment.
“Including the Imavere and Lohu mets solar parks, which were opened by Evecon and Mirova just a few days ago, more than 100MW of production capacity will be added to the local market within one week.
“This represents about one-tenth of the total solar capacity currently produced in Estonia.
“We would like to thank Mirova for the success of this project and also for trusting the Estonian renewable energy market.
“Evecon proposed a community benefit model to the municipality of Lääneranna in the form of a contract.
“This is a voluntary step by the company, as there is no provision for the payment of a tolerance fee in the case of solar energy production, as there is in the case of wind turbines.”
Raphael Lance, head of energy transition funds at Mirova, said: “The strategy of Mirova’s renewable energy funds has always been to participate in building new installed capacity alongside industrial partners and project developers in Europe.
“We are proud to bring our contribution to the Baltics’ decarbonisation and energy independence with this major asset and our grateful to our partner Evecon for the quality of our partnership.”
The land area of Kirikmäe solar park is 110 hectares and it will cover the annual electricity consumption of an estimated 35,000 households.
A total of 117,600 solar panels with a total power of 655–665 W will be installed there.
The manufacturer of the solar panels is Canadian Solar.