Thanks to an approval issued by the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Energa Wytwarzanie of the ORLEN Group and Canadian company Northland Power can establish a joint venture to provide maintenance services for offshore wind farms in Poland. The new company will carry out activities in such areas as technical management of offshore wind farm infrastructure, commercial asset management, health and safety and environmental issues.

Energa Wytwarzanie and Northland Power will combine the experience and expertise of their teams to provide specialized services to the offshore wind sector. In the coming years, Energa Wytwarzanie aims to use its existing knowledge and experience in operating onshore wind farms in Poland to provide new services related to the maintenance and operation of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea Northland Power, as one of the world’s most experienced companies in the offshore wind sector, brings to the new company its extensive experience in managing and maintaining this type of an offshore investment.

– Energa Wytwarzanie is one of Poland’s most experienced players in the wind power segment. The competence and knowledge of our employees combined with Northland Power’s know-how in servicing offshore wind farms is the perfect combination for the growing sector in Poland – says Piotr Meler, President of the Board at Energa Wytwarzanie.

– Northland Power is developing and operating wind assets in several countries around the world. Poland is a strategic market for us, due to the planned, very dynamic development of offshore wind projects in the coming years. Cooperation with Energa Wytwarzanie is of great importance to us. They are one of the largest producers of green energy in Poland. We believe that both sides will benefit greatly from this newly begun cooperation – says David Povall, Vice President for Offshore Wind Energy.

The Baltic is full of potential

The Baltic Sea offers excellent conditions for wind power development, including favorable wind conditions, low salinity and relatively shallow waters. The generation potential of wind farms in the Baltic Sea is estimated at more than 30 GW, and its utilization would help make offshore wind energy one of the key elements of the country’s energy transition, ensuring security of energy supply and strengthening the economy by building a modern supply chain.

– Leveraging experience from servicing and maintaining onshore wind farms is key to developing competence in servicing offshore wind farms. Taking into account the total potential of the ORLEN Group in the area of offshore wind, it is important for the Group to have a company with such competencies – says Sebastian Kowalczyk of Energia Wytwarzanie, responsible for developing the operations and maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind farms.

The first offshore wind farm in Poland will be Baltic Power, with a capacity of nearly 1.2 GW, which will begin operation in 2026. This is a joint project between ORLEN and Northland Power and the largest investment in renewable energy sources in Central and Eastern Europe. In October, the corporation made a final investment decision on the construction of the farm. Baltic Power will be able to produce clean, accessible energy that can power 1.5 million households.

More than a decade of experience on land

Currently, Energa Wytwarzanie’s assets include six onshore wind farms located in northern and central Poland, with a total capacity of approx. 244 MW. The company has been managing onshore sources for 15 years, maintaining the various components of wind farms ensuring technical efficiency and availability of machinery and power equipment, as well as conducting technical inspections.

Offshore wind energy is one of the pillars of the ORLEN2030 strategy. By the end of the decade, ORLEN Group will have 9 GW of installed renewable energy capacity, including offshore wind farms. In early October, the corporation officially received licenses for five more wind farm sites in the Baltic Sea. Their power potential is approx. 5.2 GW, which would produce enough clean energy to power approx. 8 million households.

Source: Energa Wytwarzanie