• Estonia has built the largest solar park in the Baltics.
• The country has rapidly increased its solar energy capacity in the last four years.

Evecon, a top Estonian energy company, and Mirova, a leading sustainable finance firm in Paris, have launched the biggest solar park in the Baltic region, which is located in Kirikmäe, Pärnu County.

The new solar park can produce 77.53 megawatts (MW) of electricity, which is more than double the output of the previous largest solar park in the region. The park can fulfil the energy needs of around 35,000 households in the vicinity.

The Baltic Renewable Energy Platform (BREP), a joint venture by Evecon and Mirova, owns the newly opened solar park. The companies also plan to finance and manage multiple solar parks with more than 100 MW in Estonia.

“The construction of the Kirikmäe solar park is a landmark event for the entire Baltic region due to the size of the production unit and the scale of the investment. Including the Imavere and Lohu mets solar parks, which were opened by Evecon and Mirova just a few days ago, more than 100 MW of production capacity will be added to the local market within one week. This represents about one-tenth of the total solar capacity currently produced in Estonia,” said Karl Kull, CEO of Evecon. “We would like to thank Mirova for the success of this project and also for trusting the Estonian renewable energy market.”

Around 250 builders worked to finish the construction of the Kirikmäe solar park in just six months. Evecon has even supported the local municipality by sharing 0.6 per cent of the park's revenue, which they are not legally obliged to do so.

Mirova supports the development of new green energy projects in Europe and says a project of this kind will significantly reduce carbon emissions and promote energy independence in the Baltics.

From almost no solar capacity in 2020 to ranking sixth in the EU for solar panel capacity per person, Estonia has rapidly increased its solar energy capacity. The government of Estonia has even set goals to have all electricity come from green energy by 2030, with solar having an increasingly important share.

The park covers an area of 110 hectares and uses around 1,17,600 solar panels made by Canadian Solar, a company that manufactures solar PV modules. Each of these panels is capable of generating 655–665 watts.

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Source: Mirova