At the Offshore Wind Poland 2024 conference, ORLEN Neptun CEO Janusz Bil announced ambitious plans for the development of offshore wind energy in Poland. In his speech, he highlighted that BalticEast, the company’s most advanced project, is being prepared to participate in an auction planned for 2025.
– It is estimated that these projects will have a total capacity of 5.2 GW. Our largest project, Baltic East, is being prepared for the auction in 2025 – said Janusz Bil.
BalticEast is the most advanced of the offshore wind farm projects being developed by ORLEN Neptune. The farm, with a planned installed capacity of approximately 1 GW, will occupy an area of approximately 110 km² and will be located on the Słupsk Bank, approximately 22.5 km from the Baltic coast. With favourable wind conditions and depths ranging from 25 to 40 metres below sea level, the project has the potential to provide clean electricity to up to 1.25 million households in Poland.
The BalticEast site is adjacent to the 1.2 GW Baltic Power farm currently under construction, which is a joint investment by ORLEN and Northland Power. Baltic Power is expected to be operational in 2026, making effective use of the existing infrastructure and experience at BalticEast.
Both BalticEast and other projects developed by ORLEN Neptun have the potential to become pillars of the Polish renewable energy market. Thanks to its strategic location on the Słupsk Bank and the experience gained with Baltic Power, BalticEast has the potential to become one of the most important offshore wind farms in the Baltic region, contributing to climate goals and the transformation of the energy sector in Poland.
ORLEN Neptun is responsible for the development of offshore wind energy in the ORLEN Group. In October 2023, the company obtained the final decision of the Minister of Infrastructure to grant five new sites for the construction of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea with a total capacity of approximately 5.2 GW. Four of them are located on the Oder Bank, near Świnoujście, where the company is building its installation port for offshore wind installations. The fifth site is located on the Central Shoal. This area borders the site where the 1140 MW Baltic Power wind farm, which ORLEN Group is developing in cooperation with Canadian partner Northland Power, is to be built.
In addition, ORLEN Neptun is interested in the development of offshore wind projects in other Baltic Sea countries.The company’s offshore wind plans also relate to securing and guaranteeing the timely implementation of new projects. Therefore, in October 2022. ORLEN Group made a strategic decision to build Poland’s first offshore wind installation terminal. The investment is being carried out in the port of Świnoujście and will be one of the most modern terminals in Europe when completed at the turn of 2024 and 2025.
Source: Orlen & www.mediaroom.pap.pl
