The supervisory board of listed Estonian port company Tallinna decided to invest up to 53 million euros in building a new 310-meter quay with a 10-hectare area beyond the quay in Paldiski South Harbor.
The investment is co-financed by European Commission in the amount of 20 million euros through the military mobility project EstMilMob, which aims to improve transport connections to Tapa over the next five years. The quay and hinterland area will be completed in summer 2025, the company told the stock exchange.
The new quay with the area beyond to be built in Paldiski South Harbor is necessary not only for military purposes but also to increase the maritime transport capacity of goods and vehicles. Due to the favorable location of Paldiski South Harbor, the construction of the new quay will create preconditions for Tallinna to become an important partner in the construction and subsequent maintenance of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea region. The new quay will ensure the capacity of the port to receive high-draft special-purpose vessels for the construction of offshore wind farms and the transport of wind turbine components. The large rear area beyond the quay allows various preparations for the manufacture and storage of generators and wind turbine blades before being loaded on a ship. In addition, the new quay can be used to service ro-ro vessels if required.
Tallinna is currently negotiating with several larger European wind farm builders to establish a construction and maintenance port for offshore wind farms of the neighboring region in the Paldiski South Harbor. The wind farms to be built in the area plan to start production in 2028, preceded by a three-year construction period of the wind farms. The positive impact of the investment on the operating volumes and turnover of Tallinna is expected from 2025 after the completion of the quay, but as negotiations with developers are still ongoing, it is currently not possible to assess the financial impact on Tallinna in more detail.