Kiviõli Keemiatööstus asked the Climate Ministry for an extension of time for the installation of a sulfur capture device, otherwise promising to close the oil plant with 550 employees in a year. After the meeting, the ministry awaits a vision from the company on how to achieve the objectives set by law.
“Our wish would be to continue until 2035. For this we would need sufficient oil shale resources from the state. To meet environmental requirements, we also need to make some investments, such as in a sulfur trap. Today, the situation is that we will not be able to do it by the end of 2024,” said Priit Orumaa, chairman of the board of directors of Kiviõli Chemical Industry.
After Friday’s meeting, the climate ministry decided that to get an extension, the company will have to present its vision in January on the type of investments it is willing to make to adapt its air emissions to the new rules.
“We hope the state will support us. The state should still have an interest in preserving jobs and collecting tax revenue, there is no reason to prematurely close the oil shale industry,” Orumaa said.
Energy Vice Chancellor Timo Tatar said the new rules that will come into force in 2025 have been known for almost 10 years. “It is very unfortunate that the company is so late with its investments, but we as a country are certainly ready to consider the proposal that Kiviõli Chemical Industry is ready to make at the beginning of the new year,” Tatar said.
Kiviõli Keemiatööstus does not consider further investments to be justified, as they have no guarantee that they will be able to continue extracting oil shale and expand their oil shale quarry.
“First of all we need to look at the concrete proposal that the company is making, today we know that the directive, already known 10 years ago, will come into force at the beginning of 2025. There are not very many opportunities for such transition periods,” he said Buckwheat.
Orumaa noted that over the years the company has had disagreements with the Ministry of Environment regarding the conditions that the sulfur capture device must meet, and so far its construction has been beyond the company’s capabilities. “Sulfur trapping also has high costs every year, so it doesn’t make sense to do it first,” she said.
Other oil shale producers have long made the necessary investments and sulfur capture devices are in place, Tatar said.
According to Tatar, compliance with the requirements also depends on whether the chemical industry needs to expand the oil shale quarry. “Kiviõli’s chemical industry today has stone with seven to nine year mining permits. This should certainly be enough. It is important for us that the company is ready to make the investments required by the directive.”
Orumaa estimates the company has five years of oil shale, but the industry could operate until 2035, so it would be ready to expand the current quarry by about 100 hectares. “All these jobs take years,” she said.
The Ministry of Climate does not want to issue new permits for large-scale oil shale mining during the development of the climate law, as it is first necessary to establish a specific timetable for when Estonia will abandon oil shale.
Tatar said that if the company is not ready to make investments that allow it to continue its operations, it will not be able to start with oil shale. “If the company is willing to make the necessary investments to adapt its operations to the requirements, then it is reasonable to ask whether or not it is reasonable to expand the existing career,” he said.
Tatar also noted that the state does not want to leave the industry in trouble and has in several cases extended a helping hand to the chemical industry in Kiviõli. At the same time, according to him, there are few ways to move forward without investments.
2023-12-22 11:03:00
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