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Estonia has a diversified energy sector which comprises long-standing expertise in oil shale, a sizeable renewables sector and growing CleanTech capability. World-class expertise within a highly digital, pro-business environment will see Estonia play a leading role in the energy revolution
| World-class education in science, maths and IT. | |
| Fast growing sustainable energy sector including wind, biomass and waste-to-energy. | |
| World-class IT skills including CleanTech software, smart grid and electric vehicle networks. | |
| Long standing expertise in oil shale technology. | |
| Commitment to development sustainable of sustainable energy and circular economy. |
Estonia has produced from oil shale on an industrial scale since the 1930s and today remains a leader in the field. A sizeable proportion of production is exported to the regional Nord Pool market and world-class expertise exists in processes and technologies which improve efficiency and reduce environmental impact.
Sustainable energy capacity is growing year-on-year in Estonia across a range of segments including waste-to-energy, solar, wind, and biomass. Estonia’s state energy strategy requires renewables to produce the majority of electricity and heat by 2030, enabled through public and private sector investment in capacity and connectivity.
Estonia is also committed to sustainable consumption. In 2013 Estonia implemented the world’s first nationwide electric vehicle network in collaboration with ABB (read more). Today gas is commonly used to power transportation and Estonia is a leading proponent of the Circular Economy, recycling by-products from oil shale mining in construction.
As befits the world’s most digitally enabled nation, Estonia is at the forefront of applying technology to transform the energy sector – focusing on advancing green technologies and achieving thus climate neutrality goals. The expectations towards hydrogen technologies are high and re-discovered renewable energy carriers play a key role in reaching the climate-neutral targets. Skeleton Technologies (read more), a pioneer in ultracapacitor-based energy storage and Cleantech 100 company, conducts R&D in Estonia. Elcogen is the world’s most advanced manufacturer of ceramic anode-supported solid oxide cells and stacks, whereat their products have the world’s highest rate of energy conversion efficiency.
Estonia has also one of the few Smart Grids in the world, integrating hardware and software to produce real-time and predictive data on nationwide electricity patterns. Generators and distributors are empowered to deliver the optimal energy mix, identify service issues and automate billing. Consumers use apps and analytics to create personalised packages and can fix prices or trade excess electricity in the market. Efficiency is increased, environmental impact decreased and security assured by world-class cybersecurity expertise.
In the future, Estonia’s ability to integrate physical-digital solutions, supported by world-class expertise and a pro-business environment, will see it emerge as a global center of excellence in sustainable energy technologies.
Whether you seek production opportunities for regional markets, cutting-edge digital solutions, or R&D capabilities, Estonia is the ideal location for those seeking to take advantage of the energy revolution.
Estonia pushing its way to become a leading GreenTech R&D and production centre in the region. Already in 2012, Estonia established the world’s first nationwide electric vehicle fast-charging network and also developed the smartest energy distribution grid.
Tech mindset and ecosystem make it a great place to test and develop new solutions. Foreign investors and local companies have used Estonia as a testbed and a development environment for decades. ABB, Codebourne, Net Group, Ericsson and others are just a few examples to name. The energy system is experiencing fast change, both in Europe and around the world. Modern IT solutions offer a myriad of opportunities to make energy production and consumption more efficient and to improve the smart management of energy systems.
For nearly a decade we have supported local early energy transition technology developers, such as Elcogen and Skeleton Technologies. By now, Elcogen is the most advanced fuel cell producer with the highest rate of energy conversion efficiency in the world. Skeleton Technologies has become the global leader in ultracapacitor and supercapacitor energy storage systems. These two now have large partnerships with leading industry players in automotive, wind power and in many other industries to accelerate the green transition across the world.
As a member of the EU internal energy market, using Estonia as a very open and agile R&D sandbox, business models developed here can quickly be scaled to the rest of the EU energy market.
The energy tech segment is growing fast, and good examples are Nilar AB who is currently expanding its electricity storage R&D and production plant and Ensto Ensek who is expanding its EV charging systems production units in Estonia. Local universities, centres of excellence for energy systems and collaborative CleanTech ecosystem, this value chain has solid grounds in Estonia.
In addition, Estonia has also set a goal to become the number one green energy producer per capita in the world. Our vast length of sea border and big infrastructure ambitions with wind energy on land and sea allows us to achieve a lot of innovation ambitions in grid and storage technologies.
Success stories in the Energy industry include:
ABB, Codebourne, Eesti Energia, Ericsson, Intertrust, Net Group, Skeleton Technologies, Sympower, etc.
These websites can be useful when interested in the Energy sector in Estonia:
You are also welcome to send us a request for personal e-consulting to obtain more specific information.
Estonia is not only a pioneering digital society, which has found convincing answers to the challenges of digitalization, but it also is a very green country. There is a strong societal and political will to utilize the capabilities and ecosystems. These have been developed to tackle the challenges of decarbonization of the economy and to become once again a leading player – in CleanTech and GreenTech.
Estonia is a cashless society with over 99% of financial transactions occurring digitally. Electronic ID and Blockchain are widely used in FinTech applications. 80+ FinTechs ranging from innovative startups such as Wise to Blockchain leader Guardtime make Estonia a global centre of excellence for FinTech.
Estonia has a sizeable Advanced Industrial sector and world-class IT expertise in areas including high tech systems, control technologies and cyber security. Supported by a collaborative ecosystem well suited to research and development, Estonia is emerging as a centre of excellence in industrial automation.
Estonia developed X-Road, its proprietary decentralised, distributed system in 2001 and has utilised Blockchain since 2008. World-class technical skills supported by practical experience implementing public and permissioned Blockchain’s place Estonia at the forefront of the emerging Blockchain economy.
Patient records in Estonia are digitised and secured by the Blockchain, providing a single immutable data source for healthcare professionals. With a unique digital platform and collaborative ecosystem, Estonia is positioned to lead on preventative medicine, patient self-treatment and industry efficiency.
What is it like to run a business in Estonia? How to benefit from the e-solutions and the efficiency of our business culture? What are the opportunities in specific sectors? Who to partner up with?
The Estonian Investment Agency’s team is happy to help you via its complimentary e-Consulting service, organize online or offline follow-up events such as virtual investment visits and guide you through the fairly simple process of investing in Estonia.
