On 28 August, Utilitas Wind participated in the Pärnu County Regional Forum, where one of the central topics of the day was the role of hydrogen and e-fuels in the Estonian energy economy and the opportunities of Pärnu County in the development of new industry. 

In the renewable fuels presentation block, Silvar Kallip, a representative of the Metrosert Centre for Applied Research, spoke  about the possibilities of using hydrogen and the development of the hydrogen economy, and Riinu Härmas from Destiny Energy discussed the possibilities of producing e-fuels in Pärnu County. 

The panel discussion “How to extend the chain of benefits in Pärnu County in the production of e-fuels?” was attended by Rene Reisner, representative of the Ministry of Climate, Jüri-Mikk Udam, Development Manager of Hydrogen Solutions at Utilitas Wind, Silvar Kallip from Metrosert, Robert Kiviselg, Deputy Mayor of Pärnu, and Riinu Härmas from Destiny Energy. 

The discussion focused, among other things, on the role of e-fuels in the energy economy of the future, what the state and local governments expect from such developments, and what are the strengths of Pärnu County as a location for the production of e-fuels. 

One of the topics discussed was the financing of e-fuel projects. Jüri-Mikk Udam pointed out that the economic model of the projects is based on a combination of different factors. An important source of demand is the regulation of the European Union, which sets increasing requirements for aviation and maritime industry to use sustainable and synthetic fuels. This means that e-fuels do not have to compete with fossil fuels solely on the basis of price. At the same time, in the case of such first large-scale projects in Europe, national or European Union support measures are often used. 

It was also discussed how the value of large-scale e-fuel production could remain in the local area as much as possible. In addition to new jobs and investments, such projects may have wider synergies. For example, the addition of a large industrial consumer may help reduce the unit cost of the public water supply, the strong electricity connection to be built will create preconditions for the arrival of other energy-intensive companies, and the heat generated in the production process may be used in district heating or in some future industry in the vicinity. In the future, Rail Baltica may also play an important role in the logistics of production, for which large-scale production of e-fuels could become an important source of cargo flow. 

The discussion highlighted the fact that the local impact of the e-fuels project should not be viewed only through the eyes of direct jobs. The greater opportunity lies in what new infrastructure, entrepreneurship, skills and next investments a large industrial project can bring to the region. 

The Pärnu County Regional Forum took place on 26–28 August in Pärnu, Sindi and Tootsi and brought together representatives of the state, local governments, companies and other organisations to discuss the development opportunities of the region and the future of regional policy.