Estonian government approves first building permit for offshore wind farm
The Estonian government has approved a draft law that would grant the first construction permit in the country’s history for the construction of an offshore wind farm. The permit will be granted to Saare Wind Energy OÜ, which plans to build a wind farm off the west coast of Saaremaa Island.
The planned farm will consist of up to 100 turbines at least 11 km from the coast, with a total capacity of up to 1,400 MW. It could start producing electricity as early as the beginning of 2030.
The building permit is valid for 50 years and gives the right to build a wind farm with all the necessary infrastructure. The developer still needs to obtain a building permit from the Consumer Protection and Technical Supervision Authority (TTJA) and a special water use permit from the Environmental Authority, as well as implement certain environmental mitigation measures.
Jānuss Uiga, Deputy State Secretary for Energy and Mineral Resources at the Ministry of Climate, emphasised: ‘This is the first building permit in the history of offshore wind farms in Estonia – a significant step towards clean energy production.’
In addition to this project, building permit procedures have been initiated for 11 other offshore wind farms, which have been applied for by Utilitas Wind OÜ, Five Wind Energy OÜ, Tuuletraal OÜ, UAB Ignitis renewables projektai 6, Liivi Offshore OÜ, ELWIND and Tuul Energy OÜ.
Source: Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (TTJA), 15.05.2025.