Information regarding the national designated spatial plan for a nuclear power plant with an electric capacity of 600 MW and the infrastructure necessary for its operation

Address Suur-Ameerika 1/ Tallinn 10122, Estonia/ Phone +372 626 2802/ E-mail [email protected]/ Web

Page www.kliimaministeerium.ee/ Registration No 70001231

To the Points of Contact for the Espoo

Convention in Austria, Denmark,

Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania,

Poland and Sweden

29.07.2025 6-3/25/3392-2

Information regarding the national designated spatial

plan for a nuclear power plant with an electric

capacity of 600 MW and the infrastructure necessary

for its operation

Hereby Estonia is early informing countries regarding the initiation of creation of a national

designated spatial plan (NDSP) together with strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for a

nuclear power plant (small modular reactor/SMR; two reactors) with an electric capacity of 600

MW and the infrastructure necessary for its operation.

On 12 June 2024, the parliament of Estonia – Riigikogu – passed a resolution supporting the

initiation of the process to introduce nuclear energy and establish the necessary legal and

organizational framework.

On 22 May 2025, the Government of the Republic of Estonia initiated the creation of a NDSP and

its SEA with the purpose to erect a nuclear power plant with an electric capacity of 600 MW and

the infrastructure necessary for its operation, including their connection to the existing network

(order No. 102). The NDSP is based on the application submitted by Fermi Energia AS; the

proposed plant will consist of two BWRX-300 reactors, a small modular reactor technology

developed by GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH). The planning area of the NDSP – i.e. area where

the most suitable location for the nuclear power plant is being searched for – encompasses the

territories of several local municipalities in Ida-Viru county and Lääne-Viru county and the sea

area adjacent to them. The size of the planning area is approximately 1285 km2. A map illustrating

the planning area is enclosed.

According to the Planning Act, the purpose of a NDSP is to erect a construction work which has

a significant spatial impact and whose chosen location or whose functioning elicits significant

national or international interest. SEA is mandatory when creating a NDSP. The NDSP procedure

consists of two main stages: pre-selection of a location (i.e. selecting the most suitable location for

the envisaged construction work) and thereafter creating the detailed solution (i.e. determining the

building rights of the envisaged construction work). As a result, an inclusive spatial solution will

be created for the envisaged construction work. The authority arranging the creation of a NDSP is

the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications; the NDSP is adopted by the Government

of the Republic.

The letter is sent to the Espoo Convention’s Baltic Sea subregion countries for early information

sharing purposes. In addition, also Austria has been added in the list of recipients. The countries

will be informed about the progress of the planning procedure in the next stages. As part of the

pre-selection of a location stage, the initial positions for pre-selecting a location for the NDSP and

the plan’s SEA programme stage (i.e. scoping phase) will presumably take place in 2026. Based

on the current schedule for creating the NDSP and carrying out the SEA, it is estimated that the

adoption of the NDSP could take place in 2029.

In case of additional questions concerning the NDSP, please contact Ms Aili Tammaru (adviser,

land use and spatial planning policy department, Ministry of Economic Affairs and

Communications; e-mail: [email protected]).

Sincerely Yours,

(signed electronically)

Eva Suurkaev

Acting as the Point of Contact for the Espoo Convention

Enclosure: map of the planning area of the NDSP

List of recipients (Points of Contact):

Austria: Ms Anna Eder, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, [email protected]

Denmark: Ms Maria Birkholm Søndermark, Ministry of Green Transition, [email protected]

Finland: Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), [email protected];

[email protected]

Germany: Ms Isabel Lang, Ms Kalina Peneva-Gädeke, Federal Ministry for the Environment,

Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, [email protected]

Latvia: Energy and Environment Agency, [email protected]

Lithuania: Mr Vitalijus Auglys, Ministry of Environment, [email protected]; Ms Beata

Vilimaite Silobritiene, [email protected]

Poland: Ms Dorota Toryfter-Szumanska, General Directorate for Environmental Protection,

[email protected]; [email protected]

Sweden: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, [email protected]; Ms Åsa Blomster,

[email protected]

For information:

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, [email protected]

Fermi Energia AS, [email protected]

Lilli Tamm, +372 626 9133, [email protected]

Marily Jaska, +372 626 2982, [email protected]

Rainer Persidski, +372 626 2973, [email protected]