Renwable energy in the city of Tartu

As Tartu uses wood chips in district heating, the system is already almost 100% renewable as only the top load is covered from natural gas. However, in general, ca. 80% of electricity is generated from oil shale, making Estonia’s energy mix a very carbon intensive one. Tartu’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) sets three general strategic objectives – to decrease CO₂  emissions, to consume less energy in final consumption and to increase the share of renewable energy. More specifically, the aim is to increase the share of renewable energy from 38% in 2010 to 45% in 2020. This will be achieved through a combination of measures, including:

• Ensuring a sustainable supply of district heating and cooling that is based on Tartu’s renewable energy sources (RES);
• Offering district cooling produced from RES in the amount of at least 52,000 MWh, reducing CO₂ emissions in the cooling sector by 70%;
• Using natural gas in heating only when using district heating, solar and geothermal energy is not possible;
• Reducing heat energy in public buildings by 20%, while electricity is produced 100% from RES;
• Decreasing energy consumption in the housing sector by 20%, while 10% of consumers use renewable electricity;
• Renovating street lights so they would use electricity that is produced 100% from RES;
• Ensuring that heating and electricity consumed in the public sector is produced almost entirely from RES; 
• Private initiative leads to installing devices that produce electricity from solar power in the amount of 2 MW.