An operations and maintenance base for PGE Group and Offshore Wind Energy Competence Center’s offshore wind farms will be established in the port of Ustka. PGE Baltica, which implements the PGE Group’s offshore programme, has presented plans for the development of the port’s area for offshore projects.
The decision to establish our future operations and maintenance base in Ustka is an important step in the implementation of the PGE Group’s offshore wind energy projects. Our investment will not only change the face of the port. We are convinced that it will also be an impulse for the development of the entire region and creation of new jobs – said Wojciech Dąbrowski, President of the Management Board of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.
Offshore wind farms require constant monitoring and maintenance. A service centre located nearby, with necessary infrastructure and logistics facilities, is a key element of any offshore investment.
Building an operations and maintenance base in Ustka is the most optimal solution for us. Thanks to good navigational and technical conditions of the port, appropriate depth of both the approach tracks and the port channel, the service units will be able to sail from here to the area of offshore wind farms without any obstacles. The onshore facilities provided by the location in Ustka, a well-connected city with accommodation facilities that is open to participation in the offshore revolution, are also of significance, said Dariusz Lociński, Chairman of the Board of PGE Baltica.
Specialists working in the service base will continuously – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – monitor the operation of the farms and condition of equipment located offshore and onshore. The base will provide technical and storage facilities for the service crews. It will include a warehouse for spare parts and tools necessary for servicing offshore wind farms, parking areas for service units, as well as office and welfare facilities. The base will also coordinate emergency and routine maintenance work.
An Offshore Wind Energy Competence Center will also be established within the port of Ustka. There, future specialists will acquire qualifications and competences to work on infrastructure maintenance and offshore wind power development. Moreover, the Competence Center will test and implement new innovative technologies related to offshore wind energy.
The operations and maintenance base will be built by PGE Baltica. The site on which it will be built is located between Bohaterów Westerplatte Street (on its eastern side) and the banks of the Słupia River. The company has already started developing the most optimal concept for the development of the site. The redevelopment of the wharf has been planned in such a way as to allow the technical staff to use part of the site earlier, while offshore wind farms are still under construction. According to the schedule, the first construction work will begin in 2024. The service center will become operational in 2026.
Link to video 1, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5559U6SIrw&feature=youtu.be
Link to video 2, YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvLWndbkoUg&feature=youtu.be
More about PGE Group’s offshore programme
PGE Group is currently developing three offshore wind farm projects in the Baltic Sea. Two of these are the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 offshore wind farms, which comprise the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm with a total capacity of 2.5 GW. PGE is implementing this project together with Danish partner Ørsted. Both phases of the Baltica offshore wind farm have location permits, environmental assessments, transmission grid connection agreements with the operator and have been granted the right to a Contract for Difference (CfD). They will start supplying electricity to Polish households later this decade. In parallel, PGE is preparing for the construction of a third project – the Baltica 1 offshore wind farm. The installation is scheduled to be commissioned after 2030 and will have a capacity of around 0.9 GW. PGE Baltica, the company responsible for PGE Group’s offshore programme, started wind measurement surveys for this project in May 2022. Baltica 1 already has a location decision and a connection agreement. By implementing further offshore wind farm projects, PGE intends to fulfil the strategic goal of achieving at least 6.5 GW of offshore generation capacity in the Baltic Sea by 2040. PGE Group’s offshore programme is implemented by PGE Baltica.
Source: PGE
