Offshore wind farms are planned to be built in areas suitable for the development of wind energy in the Estonian maritime spatial plan, more than 30 km west of Saaremaa.
All interested parties can submit competing applications for the areas to the CPTRA within 60 days, i.e. no later than 1 April 2024 at 11.59 p.m. The CPTRA will carry out a conformity assessment of the competing applications on the basis of the Building Code. If the submitted applications meet all the required aspects, the entrepreneurs that submitted the applications can participate in the auction to initiate the superficies licence procedure.
According to CI NMF Estonia Sea I OÜ’s supplemented application for a superficies licence of 14 November 2023, up to 107 wind turbines are planned for the Saare 2.1 area, and the total capacity of the planned offshore wind farm is up to 1700 MW. The planned maximum height of the wind turbines is up to 400 m above sea level. In addition to the wind turbines, it is planned to build up to three offshore substations.
According to UAB “Ignitis renewables” supplemented application for a superficies licence of 15 November 2023, up to 65 wind turbines are planned for the Saare 2.2 area, and the total capacity of the planned offshore wind farm is up to 1040 MW. The planned maximum height of the wind turbines is up to 400 m above sea level. In addition to the wind turbines, it is planned to build up to two offshore substations.
According to Sunly Wind OÜ’s supplemented application for a superficies licence of 2 October 2023, up to ten wind turbines are planned for the Saare 3 area, and the total capacity of the planned offshore wind farm is up to 149 MW. According to the application, the height of the wind turbine mast above the water level is up to 165 m, and the diameter of the rotor is up to 264 m. In addition to the wind turbines, it is planned to build one offshore substation.
In case the same developer wins the auctions for bordering sites, it is possible to merge them.
Before building a wind farm, an environmental impact assessment must be carried out, during which the exact number of wind turbines, parameters and the total capacity of the wind farm will be determined. The notices published regarding the intention to initiate superficies licence procedures for the Saare 2.1, Saare 2.2 and Saare 3 areas, together with location drawings, can be found on the website of the CPTRA.
