Estonia's Economy Ministry to weigh regional impact when distributing electricity grid support in Ida-Viru County

Estonia's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has said it will take the impact of projects on the region into account when deciding how to distribute support for upgrading the electricity grid in Ida-Viru County, in the country's northeast. The ministry gave this answer to the Narva city government, which had asked for backing for the construction of a 110 kV substation in the Kulgu industrial park.

In a letter dated 16 October, Minister of Economy and Industry Liina Vahtras thanked Narva Mayor Jaan Toots for his appeal and the information provided. She said that, in decisions on awarding support in the current funding round, all circumstances set out in the rules relating to the projects' impact on the region would be considered.

Narva's request

In its appeal of 24 September, Narva asked for the construction of the Kulgu substation to be recognised as an infrastructure project of national importance and for help in finding ways to fund it. According to the city, the substation is needed to improve the reliability of the power supply and to attract new energy-intensive industries, including for the expansion of the Neo Performance Materials plant.

No firm commitments

The ministry's reply contains no promise to allocate funds for building the substation or to recognise the project as being of national importance.