Estonia's Ministry and Saaremaa Municipality Disagree Over Estonia–Latvia Cable Route

Estonia's Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications (MKM) intends to submit a special spatial plan for a new Estonia–Latvia electricity connection, routed through Saaremaa island, to the government later this year. Residents of Saaremaa, however, continue to oppose building an overhead power line.

Transmission system operator Elering has produced a video showing how the planned 330 kV high-voltage line could run across Saaremaa along the entire route. The Saaremaa municipality has long argued the connection should be laid underground, which would create significantly less impact both visually and for landowners.

Cost estimates spark dispute

Researchers at Tallinn University of Technology, commissioned by Elering, compared the costs of the two options. According to their findings, an overhead line across Saaremaa would cost about 33 million euros, while an underground cable would cost roughly 700 million euros. The municipality considers these figures unjustified, pointing to data from the European energy infrastructure association EISER showing that comparable projects across Europe cost between 2 and 4.6 million euros per kilometer, far below the roughly 7 million euros per kilometer cited in the study.

Saaremaa officials stress they do not oppose building the 330 kV line itself, but want a more thorough assessment that takes local residents' views into account. The municipality has also proposed an alternative to the ministry: routing the line or cable through the sea instead of across the island. A ministry representative said this option was not among the alternatives considered during planning, that a sea cable would be costly, and that adding a new alternative for review is not currently planned.

The ministry has not yet formally responded to the municipality but maintains the position it has held throughout the planning process, which has already cost 1.5 million euros.