TALLINN, 21 November 2023 – Ministry of Climate, in cooperation with transmission system operators Elering and Elektrilevi, should update its plans for ensuring the resilience of electricity systems, taking into account, as operatively as possible, the changing circumstances and risk factors, the National Audit Office finds in its audit published today.

The National Audit Office finds that Ministry of Climate should improve its supervision over the updating of risk analyses and plans for the resilience of providing vital service. Risk analyses and plans for resilience of transmission system operators Elering AS and Elektrilevi OÜ need to be updated, there are areas in the plans of power producer Enefit Power AS that need to be supplemented.

In addition, the National Audit Office recommends consistently working through the action plans in order to prevent large-scale interruptions in the resilience of electricity systems and respond to emergency situations caused by them, including, for example, in cases where there are interruptions in the external connections, an unplanned desynchronisation occurs, the water lever at the Narva power plant cooling reservoir drops, etc.

A good example of working through various risk scenarios is the crisis exercise of the Government of the Republic held in 2022, which practiced actions in a situation of an extraordinary desynchronisation where the Baltic States begin connecting to the synchronous grid of the Continental Europe.

The audit showed that the current emergency response plan for a large-scale power outage is not up-to-date and does not meet the established requirements, but the updating of the plan has been repeatedly postponed. For example, the plan does not address the activities of the Ministry of Climate in the event of an extraordinary disconnection of the Baltic States from the Russian electricity grid and attacks on the electricity infrastructure nor the specific tasks of the Ministry of Climate, the Government of the Republic and providers of a vital service in responding to an emergency situation caused by power outage.

Synchronisation of the electricity system of the Baltic States with the Continental European frequency band helps to reduce the risk of large-scale power disruptions. Transmission system operator, state owned Elering AS implements the activities required for synchronising Estonia with the Continental European frequency band according to the schedule. The accelerated implementation of the project by February 2025 has increased the time pressure, but Elering AS is working on risk mitigation. The risks are also reduced by the accelerated reconstruction of the third overhead line between Estonia and Latvia.

According to the National Audit Office, the Ministry of Climate should also develop a plan that defines which consumers should be protected from long-term high electricity prices in order to avoid state aid measures to alleviate high electricity prices in the future, as a result of which the state spends taxpayers’ money on consumers who are not in need of support. By proactively planning measures to mitigate the impact of high electricity prices, it is also possible to analyse the price sensitivity of consumers and the effect of potential subsidies on electricity consumers and peak load.

Background information

The audit report was one of the bases for preparing the annual overview 2023 of the National Audit Office, which focused on the choices of the electricity system. In the audit, the National Audit Office looked at whether the availability of electricity is guaranteed to Estonian consumers at the required time, in the necessary quantity and at an acceptable price in the long term, and what is the preparedness of the Estonian electricity system for emergency synchronisation with the Continental European frequency band and for reducing various risks, including information technology and sabotage risks.

In order to mitigate the risks of power outages, the Baltic States agreed in August 2023 to connect their electricity systems to the Continental European frequency band already in February 2025, instead of the end of 2025 as was previously agreed.

Both the annual overview 2023 of the National Audit Office and this report concern problems with the adequacy of production capacities, which affect the price of electricity, among other things. In less than four years, the production of electricity from oil shale may no longer be economically sustainable in Estonia, and in the event of unfavourable circumstances, a situation may arise where there is not enough production or transmission capacity to cover market-based electricity consumption.

Priit Simson
Head of Communications of the National Audit Office of Estonia
+372 640 0102
+372 5615 0280
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://www.riigikontroll.ee/

• Posted: 11/21/2023 11:55 AM
• Last Update: 11/28/2023 11:35 AM
• Last Review: 11/28/2023 11:35 AM