Saare Wind Energy is an Estonian developer involved in developing the offshore wind farm south-west of the Estonian island Saaremaa.

The Saaremaa site offers an excellent opportunity for the construction of an offshore wind farm because of its location in the Baltic Sea in relation to the main wind direction, the limited water depth and the envisaged offshore wind area as stated in the Marine Spatial Plan.

The aim is to build an offshore wind farm with up to 100 wind turbines with a capacity of up to 1,400 MW. The project also includes the construction of a transmission system with a connection to the Estonian onshore grid.

About the project

• 2014:
  Saare Wind Energy OÜ was founded in 2014 with the aim of building a wind farm on the west coast of Saaremaa.
• 2015:
  Saare Wind Energy OÜ submitted an application for a superficies license. Saare Wind Energy started the development of the project in 2015 on basis of a thorough analysis and ample spatial planning experiences.
• 2020:
  At the 28^th of May 2020 the Saare Wind Energy received a positive decision of the Estonian Government which allowed the project to enter the next phase in the permitting process which is the Environmental Impact Assessment.
• 2020:
  As of October 2020, the shareholders of Saare Wind Energy OÜ are OÜ Kirsimäe, Gottlieb OÜ and Van Oord Offshore Wind BV. Van Oord is an experienced offshore wind contractor from the Netherlands and has been involved in several early developments and a large number of offshore wind construction projects.
• 2021:
  An EIA program has been submitted to the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority on 10.03.2021. The EIA program provides, among other things, an overview of the studies to be carried out during the EIA.
  On 18^th of October 2021, The Ministry of the Environment approved the EIA program.
• 2020 – 2025:
  Environmental impact assessment will be carried out as part of the superficies license process as well as other relevant permit application procedures. The detailed technical and financial development of the project will take place in parallel of these permitting processes.
• 2026:
  Start of construction activities.
• 2028:
  The offshore windfarm is operational and will be supplying electricity to the grid.