Two Estonian companies who submitted an application for a superficies licence qualified to participate in the auction for Saare 7 sea area: Sunly Wind OÜ and OÜ Utilitas Wind.

The area of Saare 7 sea area is 158.9 km² and is located approximately 12 km to the west of the island of Saaremaa, in an area suitable for the development of wind energy set by the Estonian maritime spatial plan.

The auction will take place electronically in the online environment for state land auctions at www.riigimaaoksjon.ee opens in a new tab. The starting price for Saare 7 area is €2,383,500 and the minimum bid increment is €50,000. The auction have an extended end, with the period of extended end being 15 minutes.

Participants qualified for the auction must submit an application to the CPTRA and pay a deposit of €47,670. Based on the applications for superficies licence of the companies qualified for the auction, the capacity of the planned offshore wind farm is in the range of 552–2000 MW.

The winner of the auction is the undertaking who made the highest bid and paid that amount, and the procedure for a superficies licence and environmental impact assessment will commence no later than within 90 days from the announcement of the winner of the auction. The developer who won the auction must then submit an environmental impact assessment programme to the CPTRA within 18 months and an environmental impact assessment report within 24 months after the decision to approve the environmental impact assessment programme as meeting the requirements.

Description of the Saare 7 area can be found on the website of the CPTRA and the notice of auction in the CPTRA public document registry opens in a new tab.

Excerpt of the Saare 7 sea area from the map application for the Estonian Land and Spatial Development Board’s public waters superficies licences opens in a new tab

The CPTRA is responsible for processing applications for superficies licences and issuing building and operating permits for offshore wind farms. At present, the CPTRA has announced the winners of 5 auctions for the sea area and has initiated the superficies licence proceedings and environmental impact assessment for offshore wind farms 11 times, also one environmental impact assessment report has been approved. The CPTRA is committed to ensuring that offshore wind farms are built in an environmentally friendly manner and in compliance with all construction regulations.