Eesti Energia open to building its own nuclear plant in Estonia

Estonia's state energy company Eesti Energia is not ruling out building a nuclear power plant in the country on its own or together with partners. The company's head, Andrus Durejko, made the statement in an interview with the newspaper Postimees, as reported Thursday by the ETV+ news program "Aktualnaya Kamera."

Durejko said the currently operating power plants in Ida-Viru county cannot be shut down until Estonia develops a new source of baseload capacity. In his view, nuclear energy is the most likely candidate to fill that role.

However, he is not prepared to make a final decision on whether Eesti Energia will pursue its own nuclear project before 2032. The company first wants to see how new nuclear technologies perform in practice.

First plant unlikely before 2040

According to Durejko, Estonia's first nuclear power plant is unlikely to appear before 2040. A private company, Fermi Energia, is currently working on a nuclear plant project of its own.

Durejko also raised another possible option: building a single large nuclear power plant to serve all three Baltic states jointly, rather than separate facilities in each country.