The Estonian government has decided that the fourth power grid connection with Latvia will be an overhead line, but the Saaremaa municipality wants an underground cable option to be considered, writes ERR News.
The state continues to advance the territorial planning for the fourth Estonian-Latvian power line, and it is planned as an overhead line. According to calculations by the power grid operator Elering, the transmission capacity of underground cables is lower than that of overhead lines, which means that several parallel cable lines would have to be buried to achieve the same result. This would make the project about ten times more expensive, and the increase in costs would also be reflected in electricity prices.
However, the Saaremaa municipality is not satisfied with the plan to build overhead lines. Together with the Saaremaa Energy Agency, it sent a letter to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in the spring, demanding that the plan include an explanation of why the overhead line was preferred. The ministry used Elering’s arguments in its response, but the municipality was not satisfied with this response. This week, Saaremaa Mayor Mikk Tuisk contacted the ministry again.
Tuisk indicated that, in the municipality’s opinion, the argument about the disadvantage of an underground cable is unfounded. Since this option has not been evaluated in the context of the project in question, it cannot be ruled out. He also objected to the argument that underground cables are too expensive, noting that although the initial investments are higher, it is necessary to look at the costs as a whole, including regular maintenance. He added that
various related costs have not been considered at all.
In turn, the objections of the residents of Saaremaa are mainly caused by the restrictions that will have to be observed in a fairly large area around the high-voltage lines, and the changes to the landscape. If the cables were buried underground, these problems would not arise.
The government began the preparation of the territorial planning and environmental assessment for the fourth Estonia-Latvia power line in February 2024. The planning process will take several years, and it is expected that construction could begin in the next decade. Currently, the ministry must respond to the Saaremaa municipality by the 7th of November.
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