The road to strengthening Poland’s energy security through the use of the sea has been opened. October 2, 2023, the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure organized a conference “Offshore – concessions in Polish maritime areas”, summarizing the process of issuing permits for the construction of offshore wind farms.

– Building an offshore wind energy sector is crucial to creating a balanced energy mix and ensuring Poland’s energy security. We have completed the permitting process for offshore wind farms, which is the first step in the important process of shaping a new sector of the economy – said Deputy Infrastructure Minister Marek Gróbarczyk.

At the beginning of the conference, in addition to Deputy Minister Marek Gróbarczyk, we also heard the Secretary of State, Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure Anna Lukaszewska-Trzeciakowska, Vice President of the Management Board of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA Paweł Śliwa and Member of the Management Board of ORLEN SA Armen Artwich.

Thanks to the adopted plan for the spatial development of Polish maritime areas and the creation of appropriate legal regulations that fit the requirements and development needs, it has become feasible to grant permits and close this stage, necessary for the further construction of offshore wind energy.

The Ministry of Infrastructure has evaluated 132 applications, which translates into a dossier of approx. 360,000 pages. The sum of the power that will be generated by the wind farms for which permits have been issued in the just-completed Phase 2 offshore, is nearly 9 GW. In turn, the sum of power in Phase 1 and 2 of offshore it’s reached up to approx. 15 GW.

The conference brought together key representatives of the most important players that make up the offshore wind energy industry in Poland: representatives of state and private entities. Representatives of the offshore industry’s research and training facilities also came in large numbers. The conference was centered around three thematic debates.

The debate among the rectors focused on offshore development, which has the potential to become an engine of Poland’s technological development. It was attended by representatives of the Maritime University in Szczecin, the West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin, the Maritime University of Gdynia and the Gdansk University of Technology.

The debate among concession owners focused on the reasons for involvement in offshore and the present and future of the offshore industry in Poland against the background of the industry’s long-term challenges. It was attended by representatives of Orlen, PGE Bałtów, Polenergia, Ocean Winds and RWE.

During the debate of service providers and cooperators, the opportunities, challenges, shape and prospects of the offshore market were discussed. Representatives of the Szczecin and Swinoujscie Seaports Authority, PŻB Offshore, GE Power, Siemens Gamesa and Vestas took part in this debate.

Completion of location permits for offshore wind farms is a response to the needs for developing the offshore industry and building Poland’s energy independence. Wind energy has been given due priority while respecting the environment and the interests of other sea users. Thanks to the planning of the entire process, from the preparation of the zoning plan to the adaptation of the law to the current situation, it has been possible to issue permits that make optimal use of the Baltic’s potential. The permits pave the way for the development of projects involving the entire maritime industry.

Source: Ministry of Infrastructure