EU / State Aid: approval of a €750 M Estonian strategic reserve to safeguard electricity supply

The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, an Estonian €750 million strategic reserve to safeguard security of electricity supply in emergency situations, on 28/10/2025.

A strategic reserve is a type of capacity mechanism that remunerates resources that are held outside the market and used in cases of emergency, when the electricity demand exceeds the available supply. In Estonia, this occurs during periods of low wind and solar power generation while consumption is at its peak. In Europe, Germany, Sweden and Finland have their own strategic reserves.

The Estonian strategic reserve, which will be in place until 2035, will be open to all projects that can contribute to achieving the security of supply objective, including electricity generation, demand-side response and storage.
Electricity generation and storage units will offer their availability to start supplying electricity. Demand-response units (typically large electricity consumers) will offer their availability to reduce electricity consumption at peak times.

To be eligible under the strategic reserve…