FAQ

The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority is planning to start auctions in the IV quarter of 2023.  The procedural process is explained on the website of the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority. 

Companies registered abroad can also participate in the auction. The auction environment is in Estonian.

The Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority is planning to carry out auctions in the auction environment of the Land Board.  The auction procedure is set out on the basis of the Building Code and the Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Regulation No. 20 “Procedure for initiating superficies licence proceedings by competitive tender” established on 19 March 2023. If the CPTRA conducts the competitive tender by means of an electronic auction, it is based on guide to electronic auction when announcing and conducting the auction, including preparing the notice of the competitive tender, establishing the requirements for the application for participation in the auction and the bid, taking into account the circumstances related to the specific competitive tender and the object. Guide to electronic auction is available on the website of CPTRA. The auction will include about ten areas.

According to the Estonian Maritime Spatial Plan, the minimum spacing between wind farms will be approximately 8 rotor diameters of the rotor of a later wind farm, with a minimum of 2 km. The buffer area must be included in the application for a superficies licence and it will be assessed at the auction similarly to the area of the superficies licence.

According to the Estonian Maritime Spatial Plan, the reserve areas can be brought into use from 2027 if the procedures and studies carried out in other areas suitable for offshore wind development show that it is not possible to develop sufficient volume of offshore wind farms in these areas. In 2026, the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications will assess whether it is necessary to take reserve areas into use and in 2027, the Government of the Republic will make the decision.

Network connections are the responsibility of the developer who will build the network up to the connection point at their own expense. The costs of expanding the network in the connection point will also be covered by the developer.

The current legislation does not allow joint applications by several companies in the superficies licence procedure. Only one person can apply for a superficies licence. Each person (applicant) can only participate in the procedure on its own behalf. 

Auctions organised by the CPTRA for the purpose of initiating a superficies licence procedure are open to the public. Without having to log in to the auction environment, the public will be able to see basic information about the auction in progress, such as the starting price, the current price, the number of bidders and the end time of the auction.

The auction environment assigns an anonymous pseudonym to all participants. The names of the participants who have submitted a bid are hidden until the end of the auction.

All participants who submitted bids can see the auction results, including the name of the auction winner, immediately after the end of the auction in the auction environment. The auction winner will be confirmed by the CPTRA within 3 working days after the end of the auction. The operative part of the decision to confirm the results is published on the website of the auction organizer.
 

The legal basis for declaring a tender unsuccessful are set out in subsection 113¹⁰ (7) of the Building Code as an exhaustive list. The current regulation does not include a situation where no bids are submitted within the time limit as a basis for declaring the tender unsuccessful. Therefore, the CPTRA is not in a position to declare the tender unsuccessful under the given circumstances. The competitive tender ends in a situation where no bids are submitted, as it is not possible to identify the applicant in respect of whom the superficies licence procedure is to be initiated.

Questions on electricity market design can be answered by the Ministry of Climate.

In addition to a superficies licence, the development of offshore wind farm requires an environmental permit for special use of water (water permit) from the Environmental Board and a building permit from the CPTRA. After the construction work is completed and before the offshore wind farm can be put into operation, use and occupancy permit must be applied from the CPTRA.

In accordance to the Electricity Market Act, authorisations and licences for the production and transmission of electricity are processed by the Competition Authority. An undertaking must hold relevant authorisation to engage in the following activities: generation of electricity; provision of network services through a distribution network; provision of network services through the transmission network; conveying electricity via a direct current line crossing the national border; conveying electricity via a direct line or via direct lines.
 

The calculation of yearly superficies fees for offshore wind farms is set to change on 1 January 2024 once a new redaction of the Building Code will enter into force. The fee is going to be calculated as 1,5% of the multiplication of the two following indicators: 

1. the amount of electricity produced by the wind power plant, both connected to the grid and not connected to the grid, but not less than 70 percent of the nominal capacity of the wind power plant multiplied by 4000;
2. the corresponding year's day-ahead average electricity exchange price of NordPool's Estonian price zone.

Example calculation for determining the maximum (Xmax) and minimum (Xmin) possible superficies fee for an offshore wind farm

Data:

• nominal capacity of the offshore wind farm = 1000 MW
• effective operating time of the offshore wind farm per calendar year = 4000h
• day-ahead average electricity exchange price of NordPool's Estonian price zone in 2022 = 192,82 €/MWh 

Xmax = [(1000 MW x 4000h) x 192,82 €/MWh] x 1,5%
Xmax = 11 569 200 €
Xmin = [(700 MW x 4000h) x 192,82 €/MWh] x 1,5%
Xmin = 8 098 440 €
 

In general, technical requirements are issued by Elering AS for a specific superficies licence application. In some cases, it is possible to use the existing technical requirements for another superficies licence application. A developer may use the technical requirements already applied for in circumstances where the application for a new superficies licence does not significantly change in the capacity and location of the proposed offshore wind farm and Elering AS has confirmed the equivalence of the parameters. The technical conditions have been prepared with the capacity and location in mind, so if these inputs change, Elering AS will have to assess them in accordance to the criteria previously referred to, in order to apply the same requirements in the new situation.

Yes, the CPTRA will refer all competing applications for a superficies licence to relevant authorities for an opinion in accordance to section 113⁵ of the Building Act.