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As construction starts on the Baltics ‘largest’ solar PV plant, Sunly expects to hybridize the project with energy storage and wind capacity. Image: Sunly
Estonian independent power producer (IPP) Sunly has started construction of a 244MW solar PV plant in its home country.
Located in the western county of Lääne, the project is expected to begin operations in fall 2026. According to the company, it is the largest solar park in the Baltics and would more than treble the previous largest operational PV project in Estonia. Last month, Estonian energy company Evecon and French asset manager Mirova reached operational status on a 77.53MW solar park in Pärnu County, which the companies dubbed the largest operational PV park in the Baltics at the time.
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Developed in collaboration with Estonian forestry manager Metsagrupp, the 244MW PV project has an investment of €125 million (US$131 million).
Priit Lepasepp, co-founder and CEO at Sunly, said: “In addition to the solar park, we plan to add storage opportunities at Risti in the coming years, which will help stabilize electricity prices for consumers in the future.”
Indeed, the project is part of the company’s plan to hybridise its portfolio with wind and energy storage capacity. In August this year, the Estonian IPP secured €300 million to fund the development of a 1.3GW renewables portfolio in the Baltics and Poland. This project is among the portfolio of projects that will see the hybridisation of solar PV with wind and energy storage.
The 244MW solar PV project includes plans to build a 144MW battery energy storage park, while work is ongoing in identifying locations to build nine wind turbines. However, the company has not disclosed the combined wind capacity.
Another project – which also recently started construction – to feature this hybridisation from Sunly is a solar portfolio of 225MW in neighbouring country, Latvia. Consisting of three solar parks, the projects are expected to combine solar PV with battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Despite a lack of land space in the Baltics, the region has had a growing interest in solar PV due to the faster development of projects compared with more mature European markets (Premium access), as explained last year by Lithuanian renewables developer Green Genius.
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