Utilitas is building Tallinn’s largest solar park

Utilitas is building Tallinn’s largest solar park with a capacity of 9.3 MW in Väo energy complex. It will be named the European Green Capital Solar Park. 

„Cities generate ca 70% of the world’s carbon footprint, which is why the green transition in the cities is particularly important. Tallinn is the European Green Capital in 2023 and its program is based on the desire to implement projects with a long-term impact. It is important to us to that our investments make the environment greener. The new solar park will directly help to reduce Tallinn’s carbon footprint, and since the investment decision was made this year, we decided to name it the European Green Capital solar park,“ said Priit Koit, CEO of the Utilitas group.

The solar park has a capacity of 9.3 MW. It consists of 15,600 panels and covers a total of 11 hectares in the territory of the former Väo limestone quarry. Double-sided solar panels are combined with single axis trackers, and thus the period during which the solar park produces electricity is extended. Utilitas invests 8 million euros in the construction of the new solar park. 

In order to make the urban environment greener and to improve the quality of people’s working and living milieu, nearly 5,000 trees will be planted in the western, northern and eastern sides of the solar park. Utilitas has already started preparatory construction works and the solar park will be completed in April next year. 

„The city of Tallinn has a very good cooperation with Utilitas in making the city’s energy system more environmentally friendly through expanding district heating networks, testing new renewable energy solutions and building district cooling systems. I am glad that Utilitas will soon offer the citizens of Tallinn more opportunities to use solar energy, and that the new solar park will be called the Green Capital Solar Park. Tallinn is building new solar parks itself as well, for example on the roofs of municipal buildings, in order to reduce the environmental footprint and energy costs of the city’s institutions,” said Mihhail Kõlvart, Mayor of Tallinn. 

The new solar park complements the already existing Väo energy complex of Utilitas, where green energy is produced in two combined heat and power plants, and in one smaller solar park. Next year, both green hydrogen production, fueling station and heat storage solution will be added to the complex. The most efficient and greenest energy system is one, where production and consumption are located as close as possible to each other, and different types of energy such as heat, electricity and fuels are produced together.