EnTRA Platform Project StartSun: First cooperative solar park in Estonia opens in Setomaa

StartSun is one of the EnTRA platform projects, dedicated to bringing practical tools and guides from all the projects together in one place, so municipalities and energy agencies can have a toolbox of useful resources at hand for their everyday work. The opening of Estonia’s first community solar co-op is a vivid example of exactly the kind of result EnTRA aims to make visible and transferable.

A locally built solar park has opened in Obinitsa, Setomaa, making it Estonia’s first community co-op renewable energy project.

The rooftop installation at the Southern Estonian Produce Processing Center will power the facility and is seen as a step toward expanding community-based energy nationwide.

“We already knew energy prices would affect us, so putting this project together was actually quite easy,” said energy co-op Oma Elekter lead Markus Männik, adding that the 15-member cooperative now has 62 kilowatts (kW) of solar panels, a 50-kW inverter and 50 kW of battery storage, co-funded by the StartSun project.

Männik also added that active collaboration with the regional energy agency was crucial in setting up the community.

“The energy experts from Tartu Regional Energy Agency were immensely helpful. Working closely with them has been important to our success,” stated Männik.

Laura Killak, the Head of Communications of the Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMÜ) emphasized the power in communities working together to achieve local success.

“The Obinitsa energy community is an excellent example of how communities can function: people come together for a shared cause, find solutions, and take action that has a real impact on both local life and the future of the region,”  said Killak.

The StartSun project, funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea region, is part of a broader push for shared energy production across the Baltics and Nordics. Alongside a similar energy park that is already under construction in Jõgeva County of Estonia, similar communities are also established in Finland, Sweden and Latvia.

“Obinitsa is an excellent example of how cooperation should work,” said Elis Vollmer, the communication manager of StartSun, calling the Setomaa energy co-op a model for other communities.

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