Renewable energy levy reduction

On April 8, 2026, the Parliament of Estonia adopted amendments to the Electricity Market Act, creating an opportunity for energy-intensive companies to reduce the renewable energy levy by up to 85%. The amendments were developed in cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications and the Ministry of Climate.

The budget for reducing the renewable energy levy in 2026 is €8.13 million.

Applications for the reduction of the renewable energy levy can be submitted on an ongoing basis starting from June 1, 2026, either as state aid or as de minimis aid once per year, based on the consumption volume of the previous calendar year.

The reduction of the renewable energy levy is intended for companies:

• whose electricity consumption volume has exceeded 1 GWh per year in at least two of the three years preceding the application; for new companies, the forecast electricity consumption for the next 12 months must exceed 1 GWh
• whose share of renewable energy consumption from total consumption is at least 10% in 2026, 25% in 2027, 35% in 2028, and at least 50% from 2029 onwards
• whose area of activity falls under sectors exposed to relocation risk according to NACE Rev. 2 classification

Under the state aid scheme, the reduced renewable energy levy is applied directly on the monthly electricity bill. In the case of de minimis aid, the transmission system operator reimburses the overpaid renewable energy levy for the previous calendar year to the beneficiary as a one-time payment, based on a positive decision by the Ministry of Climate.

More detailed application conditions for state aid beneficiaries are available here.
More detailed application conditions for de minimis aid beneficiaries are available here.

The detailed conditions for state aid and de minimis aid are set out in § 59² (4¹⁵ and 4²³) of the Electricity Market Act and in the regulation “Conditions for applying for and granting support for reducing renewable energy levy”.

The regulation specifies, among other things:

• the data and documents to be submitted with the application
• the procedure for accounting for additional areas of activity
• the methodology for calculating the reduction rate and de minimis aid
• the procedure for reviewing applications and making decisions
• the conditions for implementing and disbursing the aid
• the basis for supervision and recovery of aid
• requirements for data exchange and document retention