In Lüganuse, VKG and Kiviõli Keemiatööstus are expanding their oil‑shale mines; the state wants to establish two defense‑industry parks in the municipality; both a nuclear power plant and a VKG limestone‑product factory are being planned for the area.

A large part of the new Haljala–Kukruse section of the Tallinn–Narva highway, which will be publicly presented on Monday, also falls within Lüganuse's borders. In addition, various wind‑farm developers are showing active interest in the municipality, said Lüganuse Municipal Council Chairman Mart Kivistik.

"At the moment we have five detailed plans, four special plans, and one has been established — Evecon Energia's. In reality, this is an enormous burden for our small municipality. Initially more than 160 positions were launched. I think the real number will remain around one hundred, because so many locations will fall away," Kivistik said.

According to Gregor Raudvere, board member of Varja Windfarm, which wants to build wind farms in Lüganuse, the municipality's advantage is its favorable location and the low level of local opposition.

"In Lüganuse, I would say the attitude of residents is certainly one factor that speaks in its favor — this has been mentioned a lot elsewhere too. But Lüganuse also has very good wind conditions, Lüganuse has the Püssi substation, which is one of the largest node substations in Estonia, and there is a lot of free land and people who are willing to allow turbines to be erected on their land," Raudvere said.

For the municipality, the interest of various industries means that additional workforce is needed to make the proceedings run more smoothly, Kivistik noted.

"It is quite a large resource cost to answer all kinds of inquiries and matters that come with all of this. In that sense, we have created additional positions," Kivistik said.

In various proceedings, the municipal council chairman has been bothered by the fact that the experts assessing impacts tend to view the processes more from the developer's perspective than from that of the local resident.

"I would say from my own experience, since I have attended many of these meetings, that experts should explain more substantively and the presentations should be better, more prepared and impartial," Kivistik said.

Lüganuse municipality was formed by the merger of the former Lüganuse, Sonda and Maidla municipalities and the towns of Püssi and Kiviõli. The municipality has almost 8,000 residents, most of whom live in the town of Kiviõli.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!