NATO Member Deploys Solar Power For Energy Independence

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The energy transition in Europe got an unwelcome shot of adrenaline after the events of February 24, 2022, when Russia launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine. NATO allies and EU members scrambled to reduce if not eliminate their dependence on natural gas imported from Russia. That includes Estonia, one of the smallest nations in Europe, which is is flexing its solar power muscles with the aim of achieving 100% renewable electricity by 2030.

Biggest Solar Power Plant In The Baltics, With Guidance From White & Case

The 2030 renewable energy goal also includes 69% renewables for heat, but let’s take a look at the clean electricity angle first.

In August, I spent several days in Estonia, visiting cleantech ventures on behalf of CleanTechnica.* The day I arrived, the Estonian solar developer Sunly came out with a major announcement. The company had just sewn up a massive €300 million debt financing deal with a group of investors based in France and Scandinavia. The funding platform was aimed at enabling Sunly to accelerate its solar power plans for Estonia and the two other Baltic states, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Poland. The financing package also includes wind power and energy storage for a total of 1.3 gigawatts.

In an interesting twist, the leading US-based international law firm White & Case advised Sunly on their portfolio. “The project is another example of the leading role White & Case is playing in the European energy transition story,” White & Case partner Carina Radford explained in a press statement in August.

Invasions Have Consequences

That’s quite a turnaround from just a few years ago, when White & Case maintained a solid presence in Russia. Shortly after the invasion, White & Case announced the closure of its Moscow office, and took some additional steps.

“Our review of Russian and Belarusian client activity is ongoing, and goes beyond our requirements to comply with sanctions,” the firm explained on March 11, 2022, with an emphasis on going beyond the requirements.

“We are ceasing all representations of Russian and Belarusian state and state-owned entities in accordance with our professional responsibilities, and not accepting any new mandates from Russian and Belarusian state and state-owned entities,” they added.

Untangling that relationship in practice was more complicated than the statement indicates. Nevertheless, since the invasion, White & Case has put out a series of press releases tracking international sanctions against Russia. In May of this year they also brought David Lim on board as a partner. Lim was co-director of KleptoCapture, a unit set up within the Department of Justice tasked with enforcing sanctions against Russia.

“The task force, formed after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has captured nearly $700 million in assets and charged more than 70 people with violating international sanctions and export controls,” Reuters reported in February of this year, citing a DOJ fact sheet.

About That Big Solar Power Plant …

Meanwhile, Sunly has not let the grass grow under its feet. Last week the company rolled out its first project under the new financing, a 244-megawatt solar power plant located in Risti, in Lääne County. A 144-megawatt battery array will complement the solar panels, and Sunly is in discussions with local communities to determine the location of nine wind turbines.

At 244 megawatts, the size of the project is a giant step up for Estonia. The current record holder for solar power plants in the country is the 77.5-megawatt Kirikmäe Solar Farm in Pärnu County, which started operating in October. The Kirikmäe project more than doubled Estonia’s installed solar capacity in one blow. Now here comes the Risti project, which is more than triple the size.

Aside from the climate action angle, the project also represents Estonia’s economic development goals. To stay competitive within a decarbonized Europe, the country must eliminate coal from its energy profile.

In a press release dated November 22, Sunly cites Estonia’s Minister of Economy and Industry, Erkki Keldo, who said that “it is crucial for Estonia to provide both new and existing investors with confidence that we can deliver clean energy at a reasonable price within the promised timeframe.”

“Without this, the competitiveness of both current and future industries will be low,” Keldo emphasized.

The Building-Integrated Solar Angle

On the other end of the solar power scale, while in Estonia, I also met with a representative from the rooftop solar installer Roofit. The startup has developed building-integrated solar panels that are indistinguishable from the metal roofing material commonly used in Estonia and some parts of the US. Combined with a 40-year lifespan, the aesthetically consistent solar power solution earned a 2024 Red Dot product design award.

The aesthetic angle is an issue that might otherwise discourage the installation of conventional rooftop solar panels. For example, we visited the Estonian National Library, a significant work of Soviet architecture. Construction began in 1985 and the work was was mainly completed in 1992, just in time for Estonia to declare independence. A reconstruction project is currently underway and solar power is part of the plan. Roofit’s building integrated solution fits neatly into three parts of the original roof.

We also visited a roadside retail shop with a peaked roof evoking traditional Nordic style. Of the many drivers passing by, probably none of them noticed that the roof was composed entirely of solar panels.

More Solar Power For Everyone

Roofit has already installed hundreds of roofs in 22 countries. That’s not a surprise, considering that the population of Estonia is only 1.3 million people. To grow, Estonian startups have to keep their eye on the European market and beyond.

Estonia’s history as a former Soviet nation was also a presence throughout my visit, mainly by way of explaining how the country segued so rapidly into an all-digital model upon formally declaring independence in 1991.

Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine also hovered in the background. Considering recent events in Romania and Georgia, that conversation has most likely moved to the foreground since my visit.

The sabre rattling was already evident last spring, when Russia removed buoys in the Narva River that marked the boundary between itself and Estonia. “The United States stands with Estonia in denouncing Russia’s action. Estonia’s borders are NATO borders,” the US Department of State responded on May 30.

“This activity appears intended to provoke a NATO Ally and advance the Kremlin’s false narratives on the defensive Alliance. Moscow’s irredentist agenda, which we witness with horror in Ukraine daily, contradicts the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act. It has no place in the modern world,” the State Department added.

As for where the US will stand on NATO after January 20 of next year, that’s up to the incoming Republican administration. That could end up just about anywhere, considering the President-Elect’s threats to withdraw the US from the treaty during his previous term in office.

That’s quite a turnaround from the last Republican administration to hold the White House, headed up by President George Walker Bush. As a lame-duck President in the spring of 2008, Bush lobbied hard for both Ukraine and Georgia to be admitted to NATO.

Going by common wisdom, any expansion of NATO is a direct provocation against Russia, which explains why France and Germany effectively blocked the move. Nevertheless, the wheels were already in motion. Russia invaded and occupied part of Georgia just a few months later, in the summer of 2008, and followed up with a similar move into the Donbas region of Ukraine in 2014.

The Republican Party has come a long way since 2008 on the topic of NATO, among other issues. If you have any thoughts about that, contact your US Senator. Drop a note in the comment thread to share, too.

*This technology tour was kindly supported by Trade Estonia, through the Estonian Business and Innovation Agency.

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Photo: Solar power is featured in the reconstruction of the historic Estonian National Library in Talinn, deploying building-integrated solar panels that match the original roofing material (courtesy of Roofit Solar).