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Offshore wind farms will transform the image of the Polish energy sector, generating inexpensive, clean energy and providing the impetus to build a new industry in the national economy.
Baltica Projects
In February 2021, PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna and Ørsted signed an agreement to establish a 50/50 joint venture to develop, build and operate two offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea with a total capacity of up to 2.5 GW. The estimated investment is up to PLN 35 billion. In May 2021, the agreement was finalised and the partners now each hold a 50% stake in the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 projects, which make up the Baltica offshore wind farm – the largest offshore investment in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.
Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 will significantly contribute to Poland’s transition towards green energy, accelerate the development of the local supply chain and stimulate economic activity for years to come. Both phases have location decisions (PSzW), environmental decisions, transmission grid connection agreements with the operator, cable laying and maintenance permits.
Consortium of Geoquip Marine and MEWO S.A. performs geotechnical survey of seabed for project.
PGE has also secured an advisor to raise financing for the construction of the Baltic offshore wind farm, the bank Société Générale.
Watch a video about MFW Baltica
Find out more about MFW Baltica at baltica.energy.
2022 and 2023 in Baltica projects
In August we selected the contractor for the construction project for the offshore part of the Baltica offshore wind farm: it will be a consortium of the Polish branch of Denmark-based Ramboll and the Gdańsk design office Projmors. The contractor will also be responsible for preparing the documentation and obtaining the construction permit for the offshore part of the MFW Baltica project.
In September 2022, a consortium of the Maritime University of Gdynia and MEWO S.A. began environmental studies for the Baltica 1 project. The consortium will also prepare an environmental report and will be responsible for obtaining an environmental decision for the Baltica 1 project issued by the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Gdańsk.
See how the environmental studies for the Baltica 1 project are progressing
In October 2022 PGE Group selected the port of Ustka as a service centre for offshore projects. A Centre of Competence for Offshore Wind Energy will also be built on the site of the port in Ustka.
Also in October 2022 the Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Gdańsk issued a decision on environmental conditions for the connection infrastructure, i.e. the power lead-out from the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm, which is being implemented in two phases Baltica 2 and Baltica 3.
PGE and Ørsted also notified the individual price in the contract for difference for both phases of the Baltica offshore wind farm project being carried out together – Baltica 2 and Baltica 3. After verification of the documentation by the Energy Regulatory Office and the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, this was forwarded to the European Commission – the Commission approved the level of support in September 2022. In December 2022 PGE and Ørsted received the decisions of the President of the Energy Regulatory Office on the individual prices in the contracts for difference for the two phases of the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm under construction – Baltica 2 and Baltica 3.
The individual price in the Contract for Difference (CfD) for both phases of the MFW Baltica was set at the maximum allowable level of PLN 319.6/MWh.
Already in April 2023 Ørsted and the PGE Group signed an agreement with Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy for the supply of wind turbines for the Baltica 2 phase with a total capacity of approximately 1.5 GW.
In addition to supplying 107 turbines of 14 MW each, Siemens Gamesa will also be responsible for servicing the turbines and supplying spare parts for a period of five years after commissioning.
We are pursuing the largest project in the history of renewable energy in Poland. The signed agreement concerns the supply of turbines for Baltica 2 with a capacity of approximately 1.5 GW, which is the largest investment implemented in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea and one of the largest of its kind in the world. The PGE Group is responsible for ensuring Poland's energy security. We are consistently pursuing our strategy to create new green electricity sources for our country. By 2030, we intend to build about 2.5 GW of generation capacity in the Baltic Sea.
In June 2023 PGE Group and Ørsted signed a contract with a consortium of SEMCO Maritime and PTSC Mechanical & Construction to design, manufacture and commission offshore substations for the Baltica 2 project. The four substations – each equipped with two transformers – will collect electricity generated by wind turbines and export it to land.
In July 2023 PGE Group and Ørsted signed contracts with Navantia-Windar and Orient Cable (NBO), which will provide foundations and internal cables for the Baltica 2 project. The Navantia-Windar consortium will deliver the foundations – monopiles, the largest of which exceed 100m in length and weigh more than 2,000 tonnes. Orient Cable (NBO), on the other hand, will supply 66 kV underwater internal cables with a total length of about 170 km, which will connect the turbines to the offshore transformer stations.
Also in July 2023 the European Investment Bank (EIB) has issued a preliminary credit decision for the Baltica offshore wind project. The total financing package amounts to EUR 1.4 billion – this is a significant step towards securing the optimal financing structure to build PGE’s first offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.
MFW Baltica - the Baltica 2 stage with a capacity of approximately 1.5 GW is planned for commissioning in 2027, and the Baltica 3 stage with a capacity of approximately 1 GW is planned for commissioning by the end of this decade.
The next phase of PGE’s offshore wind project, Baltica 1 with a capacity of 0.9 GW, is scheduled for completion after 2030.
Other Offshore Wind Projects
Cooperation with Tauron and Enea
In January 2021, PGE, Tauron Polska Energia and Enea signed a letter of intent to work on future offshore wind farm projects. In the letter of intent, the companies expressed their willingness to establish strategic cooperation related to future offshore wind energy investment projects in the area of the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea. The motivation for the cooperation is to achieve synergy effects when undertaking joint investments in the offshore field.
PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna signed conditional agreements with Tauron Polska Energia and Enea for the sale of shares in four SPVs tasked with obtaining location permits for the construction of offshore farms in the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone in the Baltic Sea. Two of the companies obtained location permits in August 2023.
Location Permits
In 2021 and 2022, PGE companies submitted 8 applications to the Ministry of Infrastructure for location permits for offshore wind farms – for the erection and use of artificial islands.
In August 2023 the Ministry of Infrastructure issued decisions on granting permits for the erection of artificial islands, structures and equipment in Polish maritime areas for projects involving the construction of offshore wind farms. The decision concerns, among other things, five areas in the Baltic Sea for which the PGE Group had applied in the adjudication proceedings.
We are building the Offshore Industry in Poland
PGE’s investments in offshore wind farms are pioneering projects on the Polish market – therefore PGE Group is contributing to the formation of a new sector of the economy in our country. The construction and development of the offshore wind energy sector on the Polish coast will have a positive impact on the development of the national economy, particularly in a regional dimension – the whole area of Pomerania. Local companies will be able to benefit from orders from general contractors, and the existing infrastructure on the coast provides opportunities for the development of Polish port and transport logistics.
A similar idea of increasing the share of local content and building added value in the Polish economy is guiding the Sectoral Agreement for the Development of Offshore Wind Energy in Poland, of which PGE is one of the signatories.
We also continuously engage in dialogue with suppliers and subcontractors as part of Suppliers Days. In 2022 PGE Baltica organised two workshops-presentations for potential suppliers and subcontractors.
In April PGE Baltica representatives, together with Ørsted, presented the project and the most important upcoming tenders and answered all questions that arose. The virtual event was attended by nearly 800 representatives of potential suppliers, subcontractors and other entities interested in cooperating on the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm, including more than 500 from Poland.
In turn, in June 2022, during the PWEA industry conference in Serock, PGE Baltica, together with its Danish partner, held presentations and workshops on quality and safety at work, where they focused on the requirements and standards in this area that potential contractors must meet.
Networking for scientific cooperation in offshore wind energy
The planned development of energy infrastructure on the Baltic Sea and in coastal municipalities may make Pomerania a new energy region for Poland. The construction and development of the offshore wind energy sector on the Polish coast will have a positive impact on the development of the Polish economy, particularly in the regional dimension – the whole of Polish Pomerania. It will also be an opportunity to strengthen Polish scientific thought.
That is why PGE Baltica has started to establish a scientific cooperation network. In this way, it wants to involve Polish universities and scientific institutions in the development of the Polish offshore wind energy sector, while at the same time building the Polish potential for local content.
On the one hand, such cooperation brings with it opportunities to improve new technologies for offshore wind energy on the basis of joint scientific and research projects, and on the other hand, it is an excellent opportunity to lay the foundations for the training of future personnel so necessary for the sector that is being created in Poland. PGE Baltica implements postgraduate studies related to offshore together with Gdynia Maritime University (faculty „Risk management in offshore industry and wind energy”) and Gdansk University of Technology (two-semester postgraduate course in offshore wind energy).
In addition, at the Gdansk University of Technology it has joined a specialisation in master’s studies on the design and construction of offshore energy systems. In turn, the first course in investment process management in offshore wind energy in Poland was created at Warsaw’s Lazarski University, developed jointly with PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna: a postgraduate course called 'Offshore wind energy: management, investment preparation and implementation’, which was launched in October 2022 and is aimed at anyone interested in professional development in the area of offshore wind energy.
Planning to create a comprehensive education program for young people interested in a career in offshore wind energy, it has also invited Pomeranian secondary schools – the General and Technical School Complex in Ustka and the Technical School Complex in Malbork – Technical School No. 2 – to cooperate, in order to show students already at this stage the opportunities that working on offshore wind farms brings. In these schools, PGE Baltica’s support will include, among other things, the purchase of textbooks for three outstanding students, financing the purchase of equipment for a mechanical and measurement laboratory, conducting theoretical and practical specialist classes, and participating in the preparation of technical staff for PGE Baltica’s investment projects.
An important common point on the map of this cooperation will be the planned Centre of Competence for Offshore Wind Energy (CKMEW) in Ustka, which is to be the heart of the ecosystem created by PGE Baltica linking science and the offshore wind industry. It is there that employee training and certification of their qualifications are to take place. New technologies to improve the efficiency of offshore wind farms will be worked on there by project teams. In the design and research sphere, in addition to universities, PGE Baltica is already cooperating with, among others, institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Gdansk.
The CKMEW, in close cooperation with scientific institutions, plans to implement the latest technologies, e.g. an innovative concept for the construction of a so-called digital twin in Hi Tech technology for training and preventive diagnostics; it will create a unique set of simulators in the VR (virtual reality) model for training purposes; it will develop a methodology for testing innovative technology in an operational environment; and it will create conditions for conducting implementation problem dissertations and storing knowledge. Commercialisation of the projects undertaken, taking care to preserve intellectual property rights and new technologies, will create sources of real revenue and significantly optimise O&M costs.
Below is a summary of PGE Baltica’s cooperation with Polish scientific entities.
