Estonia: Tartu to consume only renewable electricity from 2021

NordenBladet – The City of Tartu is to enter into an agreement with AS Alexela for the purchase of electricity for street lighting and the city’s agencies and will become a city consuming only green electricity from next year..

In 2015, Tartu city council established an action plan for the city’s sustainable energy economy, the strategic goal of which is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions related to energy consumption. Based on the goal, the city will enter into an agreement to purchase electricity that will increase the share of green electricity to one hundred percent from next year.

Deputy Mayor Raimond Tamm said: “By transitioning fully to green electricity, the City of Tartu is taking a very long step towards becoming a carbon-neutral local government, because electricity from non-renewable sources accounts for the largest share of our current carbon emissions. The next big challenge for us is to introduce renewable fuels in connection with important services that the city procures, such as waste transport and street maintenance, but the possibility of this transition still needs to be analyzed.”

The contract will be concluded for the purchase of electricity for street lighting and city institutions as well as kindergartens and schools with a total volume of 19,700 MWh per year. Electricity will be purchased in 2021-2022 at the stock exchange price, AS Alexela offered a margin of 0.84 euros per MWh. Electricity supply will start on January 1.

In recent years, Tartu has taken steps to move towards a more sustainable living environment. Today, only renewable energy is used in Tartu’s public transport – all city buses run on biogas and the bicycles of the smart bike share system use green electricity.

In street lighting, energy-intensive sodium lamps are gradually being replaced by energy-efficient LED lamps. City-owned buildings use predominantly district heating, which is produced from renewable energy sources in the extent of approximately 85 percent.