Eesti Energia inks deal with Israeli firms for €100-million cogeneration power plant
Eesti Energia inks deal with Israeli firms for €100-million cogeneration power plant.
The plant will both contribute to energy security of supply via electricity frequency reserves, and has potential for cogeneration use in supplying district heating to nearby Narva.
Eesti Energia subsidiary Enefit Industry, has signed a €100-million contract with two Israeli companies for the construction of a new power station in eastern Estonia.
Baran International and Baran Group, the latter Israel's largest listed engineering company, signed the turnkey procurement agreement with Enefit on Tuesday, for a 10MW-rated hydrogen thermal power plant.
The gas-fired power plant will be erected on a plot belonging to the Balti power plant near Narva. Once up and running it will will provide frequency reserves.
"The situation in the frequency markets and the electricity market clearly demonstrates that Estonia needs new flexible and controllable production capacities. The advantage of the power plant being built is the ability to quickly launch it in accordance with the needs of the energy markets and thereby level out peak prices for consumers," Enefit Industry chair Lauri Karp said.
It will also utilize cogeneration of electricity and heat. "Although the power plant planned by Enefit Industry is not a base heat solution, it is still an additional option for supplying heat energy," Karp added.
Cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP), is the simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat from a single fuel source, and in addition to the 100MW of electricity, the plant will be able to provide up to 85MW of heat to the Narva district heating network.
"We have implemented similar and even more complex projects. I believe that together with Eesti Energia we will create an efficient energy solution for Estonia," Alon Lustov, Vice President of Energy at Baran Internation Ltd., said.
The plant will operate mainly with natural gas or biomethane, but can also use up to 25 percent hydrogen where necessary, Eesti Energia saud.
The facility is scheduled to be completed in 2028, and is planned in the context of the frequency reserve tender announced by Elering.
Three bids were submitted for the procurement announced in April, with the Baran International Ltd and Baran Group Ltd joint bid of almost €100 million the winner.
The project will use 4.5-MW turbines from Austrian gas engine manufacturer Jenbacher, and the design phase is already underway, with construction due to begin in the fall of 2026 as plans stand.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming
