Government News – On October 14, when opening the “Baltic Clean and Green Conference“, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip stressed the importance of new energy technologies in the creation of sustainable economic growth. In addition to the importance of international cooperation, he also talked about the future of Estonian energy.
Ansip admitted that Estonia, in its national energy policy, has set ambitious goals that support the climate and energy related agreements of the European Union. “The Esto-nian energy management development plans prescribe the increase of the use of renewable energy,” he stated and added that this will bring along an increase in the use of wind energy in the immediate future.
The Prime Minister stated that the wellbeing of future generations and the sustainability of economic growth both depend on the success of the use of renewable energy and the implementation of new energy technologies. “I believe that new technologies will positively affect the entire economic situation by promoting economic growth, contributing to the establishment of jobs and increasing productivity.”
When speaking about the future, Ansip noted that Estonia plans to supplement its energy production with nuclear energy. The Prime Minister noted that in addition to the participation in the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant project in Lithuania, work has already commenced on determining the possibility of establishing a nuclear power plant in Estonia as well. “The existence of domestic low-carbon energy is of the utmost importance in the future for achieving safe and sustainable development,” he said.
The Prime Minister also talked about the importance of cooperation with other countries in the field of energy, both on the regional and global level. Regarding the energy cooperation between Estonia and the USA, the head of government mainly pointed out the cooperation in the field of oil shale energy. “When using this natural resource, it is important to develop environment-friendly technologies without compromising energy security,” he said. From the specific fields of international cooperation, the preparations for the extension of the Nordic power exchange Nord-Pool, the establishment of EstLink 2 and NordBalt power cable, the participation of Estonia in the work of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the establishment of the EU-USA Energy Council were also discussed.
The two day Baltic energy conference was organized in cooperation with the US Department of Energy (http://kingent.eu/balticenergyconference/home) and was also attended by Valdis Dombrovskis, the Prime Minister of Latvia, who was on a one-day official visit to Estonia.
