The Regional Director for Environmental Protection in Gdańsk has issued a decision on environmental conditions for the Baltica 1 offshore wind farm. This means that the project will be able to participate in the auction scheduled for 17 December this year.
Receiving an environmental decision for the Baltica 1 project is an important step towards achieving the goal set out in the PGE Group’s Strategy – to achieve at least 4 GW of installed capacity in offshore wind energy by 2035. This decision allows us to submit the project to the offshore auction planned for this year. It is a clear signal to the market that the development of offshore wind energy in Poland is gaining momentum and that domestic companies have a real chance to actively participate in this process. Baltica 1, with a capacity of 0.9 GW, is another project in which we want to engage Polish suppliers and jointly build a strong Polish value chain – said Dariusz Marzec, President of the Management Board of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.
PGE Baltica, responsible within the PGE Group for the implementation of offshore wind energy projects, conducted comprehensive environmental studies before issuing a decision on environmental conditions. This allowed for a thorough identification of the natural resources of the sea – not only in terms of the geological structure and physicochemical parameters of the water and bottom sediments, but also in terms of the organisms present in the studied area – plants and animals inhabiting the seabed, as well as fish, birds and mammals, including bats. All this was done in order to minimise the impact on the natural environment both during construction and subsequent long-term operation of the investment.
The research work and preparation of the report were carried out by a consortium of Polish contractors – the Gdynia Maritime University and MEWO, a company specialising in marine environment measurements.
Baltica 1, with an installed capacity of approximately 0.9 GW, is being developed by the PGE Group and, if it wins the difference contract in this year’s auction, will be commissioned by the end of 2032. Baltica 1 will be located approximately 80 km north of the Polish Baltic Sea coast in the Central Bank area near Władysławowo. The project already has a location permit and a connection agreement. The future Baltica 1 offshore wind farm has already undergone geotechnical and geological surveys at sea and on land, as well as wind, sea current and wave measurements.
Source: PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna
