Polenergia S.A., Poland’s largest private, vertically integrated energy group, sold 50% of shares in Bałtyk I Offshore Wind Farm construction project to the Norwegian group Equinor. The total capacity of their joint offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea will amount to 3,000 MW.
Polenergia’s cooperation with Equinor started in spring of 2018, when both companies signed an agreement under which the Norwegian company became a shareholder in Bałtyk II and Bałtyk III offshore wind projects. At the end of 2018 Equinor decided to expand the cooperation, to ultimately purchase shares in the third project, i.e. Bałtyk III offshore wind farm. This means that both companies will jointly develop offshore wind farm projects with a total capacity of 3,000 MW. Equinor will be responsible for preparation and subsequent stages of offshore wind farm construction, and will become their operator at a later stage.
“All three of our projects already have a renowned Partner, on the one hand confirming the realistic prospects for development of offshore wind in Poland, and on the other – acknowledging the quality of work carried out by our Group and giving a clear signal that 1.5 years of our joint work with Equinor brings results” – points out Michał Michalski, Polenergia’s CEO.
Polenergia is the first and only entity in Poland to hold two legally binding environmental permits for the construction of Bałtyk II (April 2017) and Bałtyk III (July 2016) offshore wind farms and a valid environmental permit for the construction of transmission infrastructure (March 2019). The third project, Bałtyk I, has a valid location permit and obtained connection conditions from the TSO.
The Baltic II and Baltic III projects have already carried out preliminary geological surveys of the seabed and a 2-year wind measurement campaign using a LIDAR system. Thanks to confirmed very good wind conditions in the Baltic Sea it will be possible to use the energy in a more efficient manner and to reduce equipment wear, making offshore wind farms a stable renewable energy source. The expected operation period for offshore wind farms is 25-30 years.
The next stage of development of Bałtyk II and III offshore wind farms will include obtaining the building permit and selecting key technology solutions. Rapid global development of offshore wind means that single wind turbine capacity will significantly exceed the 10 MW available currently, thus minimizing the environmental impact of projects. Two conditions have to be met in order to allow for construction of Poland’s first offshore wind farms capable of generating electricity in 2025. First, the highly anticipated legislation on dedicated support scheme for offshore wind farms has to be adopted and come into effect in 2020. Second, a number of technical and operational improvements in the regulations related to the permitting process and preparation for construction has to be introduced.
Source: Polenergia’s press release of 10 December 2019