Gren to support the strengthening of Estonia’s electricity infrastructure
Gren has won Elering’s latest frequency reserve tender and will invest in two new 30-megawatt power plants in Tartu and Ahtme, Ida-Viru County. The facilities will provide a combined 60 megawatts of frequency reserve capacity, helping to enhance the stability and resilience of Estonia’s electricity system and the stability of the integrated electricity system in the Baltic countries. Both units will initially run on natural gas but are being designed to accommodate biomethane and hydrogen in the future.
Margo Külaots, Head of Gren in Estonia, noted that Gren sees several synergies between providing frequency reserve services and its core activities of producing and supplying district heating and cooling. “We have a top-level local team, long-standing experience in operating combined heat and power plants, and the technical capability to deliver such a service. We already run two CHP plants in Estonia that generate electricity and heat simultaneously – and we will now apply this experience to ensuring frequency reserves,” he noted.
“The agreement with Elering has been signed, and work on designing and building the plants can begin. Based on current plans, both will be completed by the end of 2027, allowing us to start providing essential support to Estonia’s electricity grid. We appreciate Elering’s decision to procure frequency reserve services from an open market, thereby ensuring the reliability and stability of the system,” Külaots added.
Jaak Tuksam, Head of Business Development at Gren Estonia, emphasized that as Gren positions itself as a strategic partner in district heating, district cooling and CHP-based electricity networks, it is natural for the company to play an active role in strengthening the Baltics’s electricity infrastructure and advancing a smart energy future. “In the years ahead, local companies and those who make efficient use of residual heat will provide the ‘last mile’ of the electricity system, reducing the need for duplicate distribution networks,” he explained, outlining Gren’s interest in the frequency reserve market. According to Tuksam, this type of dispatchable generation capacity is essential for independent frequency control and the stable operation of the electricity system.
According to Erkki Sapp, Member of the Management Board of Elering, flexible and fast-acting power plants are needed for the real-time daily operation of the electricity system. At the same time, newly built gas-fired power plants make an important contribution to ensuring security of supply more broadly. “For Estonia’s future security of supply, it is critically important to ensure the availability of a sufficient number of fast-responding power plants in a situation where, within the Continental Europe synchronous area, each country must maintain the balance of its own system,” Sapp said.
“We commend Gren for its decisions to participate in the long-term frequency reserve procurement and for submitting successful bids. The winners have now been selected and contracts concluded with them. The large number of participants and the strong competition in the procurement process ensure the best possible outcome for Estonian electricity consumers,” Sapp noted.
Frequency reserves are needed to maintain balance – that is, frequency – in the electricity system. If balance is lost, the system may, in the worst case, shut down. To secure an adequate volume of frequency reserves in the medium term, Elering organized a public procurement procedure, which received a total of 13 bids amounting to 677 megawatts. As a result of the procurement, Elering will purchase 236 megawatts of frequency reserves from five suppliers. Gren participated in the procurement with two bids, both of which were successful.