Accelerating the Energy Shift in Estonia
Snapshot from electricityMap.org on 23.July 2021 - Carbon intensity of energy production
Renewable energy is a starting point for innovative, healthy, environmentally sustainable and economically competitive cities.
Electrification, clean and diverse power supply, efficient energy storage and smart grid play essential roles in the energy transition.
The consumer demand for renewables is increasing and energy production is getting more decentralised.
Estonia is gradually cutting back on fossil fuels.
Wolfscape making the Hundipea neighbourhood run fully on renewable energy.
The energy sector is among the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions globally, accounting for around 25% of the total GHG emissions. The global energy mix is still dominated by fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas), leaving both the planet and our lungs exhausted.
Air pollution kills 7 million people each year and causes asthma and other long-term health problems. According to the World Bank, air pollution costs us more than $5 trillion every year. Switching to clean renewable energy is essential to tackle the major source of climate pollution.
Cleaning up the power grid
A way to dramatically cut down GHG emissions in the cities is electrifying homes, transportation, and currently fossil-dependent industries. Electricity-based technologies are often much more energy efficient. But that switch is only part of the solution.
Electrification needs to go hand in hand with:
Clean and diverse power supply. Having a diverse energy mix is an integral part of energy security. Multiple sources ensure that if one source of energy fails, the power supply continues without disruption.
Efficient energy storage. Switching to renewables, especially solar and wind, requires innovative energy storage technologies as we can’t control when the sun shines or the wind blows. The energy needs to be stored to be released as needed, providing a continuous flow of clean energy.
Smart grid. Today’s electricity grid no longer meets the requirements of modern energy production and consumption. The future grid we need today is enhanced with smart technologies and regulates the energy supply, demand and storage.
Relying on electrification alone is not enough, but we need to change our lifestyles in the cities altogether. As a general goal, we need to reduce energy usage. Especially when considering the rate the human population is growing.
The future urban environments must provide people access to low-energy housing, emission-free transportation, clean electricity and heating – and make it easy for individuals to adopt a more sustainable way of living.
The demand for renewables is on the rise
According to Deloitte Insights, technological innovation, cost efficiencies, and increasing consumer demand drive renewables – particularly wind and solar – to be preferred energy sources. Consumers are becoming more conscious and are seeking environmentally responsible energy sources that are also reliable and affordable.
Among the consumers are cities integrating renewables into their smart city plans, companies working towards meeting their ESG goals, and citizens taking part in the transition at home or with their community.
Decentralised energy production
Stand-alone renewable energy systems have become very common, providing electricity for either individual households or whole neighbourhoods. New policies and financial incentives are set up to encourage people to participate and speed up the clean energy transition.
While Germany has received criticism for the implementation of its Energiewende plan (the country's planned transition to a low-carbon, nuclear-free economy), some places in Germany are way ahead of the game.
Renewable energy powered Wolfhagen
Wolfhagen is a town in central Germany running on 100% renewable energy since 2015. A turning point for the city was 2003, when the municipal council decided to buy back the electricity grid. After a public debate about the need to go 100% renewable, the residents organised themselves and set up a citizen cooperative to raise the millions needed to buy wind turbines. Only four turbines were needed to cover the majority of the energy demand of 13,000 citizens.
By adopting a renewable energy strategy, the town has eliminated its dependence on fossil fuels and big energy suppliers and keeps revenues within the region. A quarter of the town’s citizens have acquired stakes in the municipal energy company, being a great example of making energy more democratic. The transition has also helped create many new jobs in the town.
Estonia gradually cutting back on fossil fuels
The geographical location and local weather conditions would enable Estonia to produce all the energy needed for electricity and heating from renewable sources. Estonia’s solar power potential is close to Germany’s, and the coastal location means there’s always wind – especially when going offshore.
Yet, Estonia’s energy production still relies heavily on burning oil shale, a fossil fuel similar to coal, ranking the country as one of the top CO2 emitters per capita in Europe. In 2019, only around 22% of the electricity produced in the country came from renewable energy sources.
Estonia also imports an increasing amount of electricity from the Nordic countries, which raises the price for consumers, takes money out of the economy and raises the energy risk from the national security point of view.
Based on the latest stats, the reliance on fossil fuels is gradually decreasing and the share of renewable energy in overall energy production is steadily growing. In the second quarter of 2021, close to 50% of the electricity produced in Estonia came from renewable sources.
PAKRI’s autonomous renewable energy grid
PAKRI Science and Industrial Park, located at the Pakri Peninsula extending from the northwestern mainland of Estonia into the Baltic Sea, is developing green city smart solutions, renewable energy and smart grids, offering an innovative location for greentech companies. Pakri plans to build 25MW green electricity production covered by wind, solar and biomass resources. In the future, the production will be combined with the 500MW pumped-hydro energy storage complex – Energiasalv. The Energiasalv hydro storage will store the wind and solar electricity that is not used upright when it's produced and will give it back to the grid during electricity deficit.
First renewably powered neighbourhood in Tallinn
Clean local energy production is one of the fundamental pillars of our pilot project Hundipea in Tallinn. When choosing the most effective renewable energy sources, geographic location plays a defining role. In our case, considering Hundipea’s location by the sea and the climate in Estonia, the most promising options are solar, non-wood biomass and seawater heat energy.
Hundipea will act as the testbed for trying out different renewable energy production methods and testing new technologies. The goal is to generate enough clean energy to cover the local needs and make the neighbourhood run on 100% renewables. The surplus energy produced will be sold to the grid, becoming an additional clean renewable energy source for Tallinn.
Maximising solar
Solar panels can be installed in a variety of different ways and places. The effectiveness of the panels depends on the angle they’re installed, the direction they’re facing, the amount of shading they get caused by buildings or trees, the technologies used etc.
When compiling Hundipea’s 3D model, we aim to make most of the solar energy potential. Analysing the trajectory of the sun and the shading of the buildings gives us valuable input on energy and greenery planning – which roofs should be kept for solar panels and which should be green roofs. The buildings will be placed based on the sunlight and not necessarily the view.
The 3D model allows us to visualise the seasonal microclimate on the Hundipea streets and parks helping us plant the trees and plan green facades to the right places. This way, we ensure maximum efficiency energy-wise and create an urban environment that is pleasant for people to commute and spend time in.
In addition to implementing the knowledge we collect while planning the Hundipea energy solutions, we will create a digital tool to help other cities also plan their renewable energy. The tool will provide the best solutions for renewable electricity production, heating and cooling for future projects.
Heating from the sea
Sea, at a depth of a few meters, provides a very stable heat source. Seawater heat energy is produced by a system that takes in seawater and then processes the water either via a heat exchanger or heat pump to supply an area with heating and hot water. The system is connected to the individual houses via a distribution grid. Such systems are used in many buildings across Finland, Norway and Denmark.
We have readily available local know-how from a similar seawater power system heating the Estonian Maritime Museum at the Seaplane Harbour only a few kilometres from Hundipea.
Biomass energy from human waste
Dealing with sewage is expensive as it uses a lot of electricity. The solution can be in the problem itself – the waste that gets flushed down the toilet could be used to generate gas and electricity.
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University have developed an electricity generator fuelled by sewage that breaks down the organic matter as it generates the electricity, so it does the job of a sewage-treatment plant at the same time.
A wastewater treatment plant in Marselisborg, Denmark has been turned into a power plant. The facility uses wastewater to produce biogas which is then used or sold as energy or fuel. The plant produces 50% more electricity than it needs and 2.9 GW of heat for the local heating system without adding external organic waste or carbon.
Listed above are only a few possible renewable energy sources that we are focusing on today. Green technologies and energy productions evolve at a high speed. Tomorrow might bring us something surprising that we haven’t thought of yet. We know that we need to be able to change our plans if needed and be open to adapting to the new future.
To sum it up
“The future does not lie in oil. The future belongs to renewable energy, and in that respect, we have much more to gain,” said the Greenland government in a brave statement announcing the decision to suspend all oil exploration off the world’s largest island.
A transition to 100% – or near 100% – renewable energy will benefit people, the environment, and the economy but to make it happen we need to have action taken on so many different levels. Such a dramatic change requires fundamental structural changes in our existing energy systems. It couldn’t be achieved without the cooperation between policymakers, investors, scientists, citizens, the private sector and many other relevant stakeholders contributing to the transition on a local or global level.