ESTONIAN ENERGY POLICY IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN CHALLENGES

Abstract

In today's political reality, the resilience and sustainability of Estonia's development depends on its ability to respond adequately to existing challenges and threats. Given the historical peculiarities of the development of the energy sector and the resulting dependence on Russian energy resources, energy independence is a key issue of national security. This raises the issue of developing the basic principles of energy policy, including the creation of new, potentially profitable gas and energy markets and the development of renewable energy. In developing its national energy sector, Estonia is taking into account EU initiatives aimed at overcoming dependence on Russian energy resources and transitioning to climate-neutral production. The subject of the study is the content and peculiarities of the Estonian energy policy formation. The purpose of the paper is to identify key areas and mechanisms for the implementation of Estonia's energy policy in the context of today's challenges. Research methodology: systematic approach, methods of analysis and generalization. The content of Estonia's energy policy is set out in a number of important documents, including the Strategy Estonia 2035 and the National Energy Development Plan until 2030. The key areas of energy policy implementation are synchronization with the power grid of continental Europe, participation in the formation of the European energy and gas market, renewable energy, development of cross-border cooperation in the energy sector, fulfillment of obligations under the European Green Deal to reduce CO2 emissions, and the role of shale production in Ida-Viru County. The issue of energy sustainability of Estonia and other countries in the Baltic-Finnish region is a key issue on the EU energy agenda. This is evidenced by the active public diplomacy of EU leaders to intensify cross-border cooperation of energy sector stakeholders in order to completely abandon Russian energy resources under the REPowerEU plan and to intensify the transition to climate-neutral production in the context of the European Green Deal. The EU's main energy security initiative is the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan (BEMIP), which implements various projects. Estonia uses both economic and political mechanisms to implement its energy policy. Economic mechanisms include active participation in strategic projects (Baltic Synchronization, Balticconnector), 75% of which are financed by the Connecting Europe Facility. The potential of cross-border cooperation, especially with the countries of the Baltic-Finnish region, aimed at intensifying the development of renewable energy and regional energy and gas markets, is actively used. Estonian government officials pay considerable attention to the formation of dialogue and cooperation among energy sector stakeholders, which is evidenced by their participation in various special events and declaration of their intentions for mutually beneficial cooperation in the energy sector. Research findings: the key areas of implementation of the Estonian energy policy are synchronization with the EU energy system, participation in the formation of regional gas and energy markets, and intensification of energy production from renewable sources. The implementation of Estonia's energy policy is correlated with EU initiatives and is carried out through a number of economic and political mechanisms.