THE COURAGE TO BUILD THE FUTURE
When we started Fermi Energia in 2019, there were a handful of nuclear experts in Estonia, but not nearly enough for a nuclear power plant. There was no law to regulate nuclear energy. No political support. No clear understanding of which technology to choose, how to finance it, or even how to talk about it with our fellow citizens. The word “nuclear” associated more with events 30-70 years ago, not with a modern, new generation of true nuclear energy. What we had was conviction — that Estonia deserves reliable, affordable, clean energy, and that nuclear power must be part of our future.
Starting a nuclear company in a country almost without a nuclear past is not something you do because it is easy. You do it because it is necessary. Our electricity system was — and is — facing deep structural problems. Dependence on imported energy, lack of dispatchable low-carbon generation, and vulnerability to price shocks were all visible years before 2022. We didn’t need a crisis to know that the energy system must change.
At first, Fermi Energia was just a handful of people — engineers, economists, and visionaries — trying to understand what it would take. We had to build everything from scratch: partnerships, technical knowledge, credibility, and trust. We studied technologies across the world and chose the GE Hitachi BWRX-300 — a small modular reactor that combines innovation with proven design. At the time, it was still in the licensing phase in Canada, and many thought we were being too bold. But we understood what that process meant — that the technology was mature, well-founded, and would soon be demonstrated in practice, not only in Canada and Estonia, but also in the USA, Poland, Netherlands, Sweden, and even Germany.
Today, that courage is paying off. Serious debate in Estonian parliament resulted in June 2024 in a clear vote in favour of developing nuclear energy in Estonia. The same technology we committed to is now under construction in Canada, and Estonia is preparing the legal and regulatory framework to make its own nuclear future possible. We have not only seen the nuclear renaissance, but we also helped it to happen.
Leading Fermi Energia is not about predicting the future — it is about building it. We can’t control global markets or political winds, but we can choose to act with clarity and persistence. Every study, every community meeting, every partnership is a step towards Estonia’s energy independence.
Fermi Energia would not be successful without interest by two Northern-Estonian communities to consider SMR sitting in their municipality and without genuine support of a majority of the Estonian population for a nuclear energy option.
