From October 2025 through September 2026, low-carbon sources supplied about 42% of Estonia’s electricity consumption, while net imports accounted for almost 41% and domestic fossil generation supplied roughly 18%. Wind contributed 15%, solar 14%, and biofuels 12%, making up almost all domestic low-carbon generation. Within the fossil category, oil supplied about 2% and coal about 1%; the remaining fossil contribution is not specified in the breakdown. Imports were nearly as large as domestic clean generation, but their sources are not identified, so they cannot be classified as low-carbon or fossil from these figures.

Is Electricity Growing in Estonia?

Estonia’s latest electricity figures remain below historic highs, rather than demonstrating sustained growth. Electricity consumption in 2026 was about 6,160 kWh per person—roughly 5,530 kWh, or 47%, below the 1986 record of 11,690 kWh per person. This comparison shows the gap from the peak, not necessarily a decline from the immediately preceding year. Low-carbon electricity generation was about 2,570 kWh per person, around 54 kWh, or 2%, below its 2025 record. That small clean-generation setback is disappointing: expanding clean electricity supply is important for future demand from electrification and AI.

Suggestions

Estonia should build on its established wind and solar sectors while developing nuclear electricity as another clean source. Nearby Lithuania, where wind generates 41% of electricity, and Denmark, where it supplies 59%, offer relevant examples for further wind expansion. For solar, Estonia can study deployment approaches in the Netherlands and Germany alongside the US state of California, where solar generates 31% of electricity, while adapting them to local conditions. Nuclear deserves serious consideration too: nearby Finland generates 37% of its electricity from nuclear, Sweden 25%, and France about two-thirds. Learning from these regions could help Estonia expand low-carbon generation, reduce dependence on fossil electricity and imports, and support growing electricity demand while limiting climate change and air pollution.

History

Estonia’s low-carbon electricity history shows an early phase led by biofuels, followed by increasingly strong wind and solar growth. Biofuel generation rose by a combined 0.9 TWh across the listed increases in 2009, 2010, and 2012, before falling by 0.3 TWh in 2013. Further biofuel increases followed in 2016–2018, while a 0.1 TWh wind decline in 2016 was reversed in 2017. In 2020, clean generation advanced across all three sources: biofuels added 0.3 TWh, and wind and solar each added 0.2 TWh. During 2022–2023, solar added another 0.3 TWh in total, alongside a combined 0.3 TWh decline in biofuels. The strongest recent progress came in 2024–2025, when wind generation increased by a combined 0.7 TWh and solar by 0.6 TWh—encouraging gains that Estonia should build upon.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade

* 12M = Last 12 months (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026) — a rolling 12-month period, not a calendar year.