We produce electricity and heat from waste

We produce electricity and heat from mixed-municipal solid waste

The circular economy, i.e the sustainable use and recycling of natural resources, is the way to a more responsible future.

Nearly 300,000 tonnes of mixed municipal solid waste is left over from sorting at Estonian homes per year. Those can be used for producing heat and electricity instead of being dumped in landfills.

At the waste-to-energy unit in Iru, mixed municipal solid waste is used as fuel. We produce up to 310,000 megawatt-hours of heat and up to 134,000 megawatt-hours of electricity per year. This amount corresponds approximately to the electricity consumption of the town of Paide and its surroundings.

The Iru waste-to-energy unit can produce heat and electricity from up to 260,000 tons of mixed municipal solid waste per year.

The Iru power plant is capable of producing heat and electricity from up to 260,000 tons of mixed municipal waste per year.

We care about the environment

Largely due to the Iru waste-to-energy unit, large-scale landfilling of mixed municipal solid waste in Estonia has ended.

The use of mixed municipal solid waste for the production of heat and electricity has hundreds of times less environmental impact than landfilling where the gases released by decomposition of the waste volatilize over decades.

Thanks to the extremely powerful purification equipment, the impact of the waste unit on the environment is smaller than in the case of a few dozen private houses.

Information on safety measures at Enefit Green AS Iru Power Plant (PDF) »

We have one of the cheapest prices for heat

The Iru power plant, which supplies heat to Tallinn and Maardu, will have a heat price cap of €18.29 per megawatt-hour (excluding VAT) starting July 1, 2024. This is undeniably one of the most affordable heat prices in Estonia.

Starting January 17, 2025, the heat energy price cap will be €20.06 per megawatt-hour (excluding VAT).

The generated heat is sold to Utilitas Tallinn, which then distributes it to end consumers.

Three exciting facts about the Iru power plant

The plant receives an average of 80 garbage trucks per day and up to 260,000 tons of mixed municipal waste per year

Nearly a third of the cost of the waste incineration unit was purification equipment which ensures that no chemical compounds over the limit granted are released into the environment.

The environmental impact of the Iru waste incineration unit is smaller than the one of a few dozen private houses or trucks driving on the highway to Narva.

Take a virtual tour at the Iru power plant

We have prepared an exciting tour so that you can comfortably take a peek behind the scenes of our sustainable energy production.

Take the tour

Wind energy

We are the largest wind energy producer in the Baltics

Solar energy

Clean energy directly from sun

The environment

We guarantee a smaller footprint for the environment

Find out more

Waste-to-energy