Will our region be the centre of Polish offshore? How long will we be forced to burn coal, poisoning ourselves and the rest of the world? Do we have to pay a lot of money for energy? – these and other questions will be answered by the participants of the next offshore debate entitled. “Presenting the region as an attractive place for the RES industry”.

“A breakthrough decision of strategic importance, a new opening and a huge opportunity for dynamic growth”. – these were the opinions that emerged after Vests, the company, announced the construction in Szczecin of Poland’s largest factory producing components for wind farms. “We could not have imagined a better scenario for our city,” – say representatives of the Szczecin Metropolis Development Agency.

Hours of talks, openness and readiness to cooperate are bearing fruit. The Agency for the Development of the Szczecin Metropolis is a municipal company responsible for, among other things, attracting investors to Szczecin, creating a good climate for companies and economic promotion of the city. The authorities of Szczecin and representatives of the company have been in talks with the Danish investor from the beginning and this dialogue has brought concrete results. Vestas, one of the world’s three key players in offshore production, has decided to invest in Szczecin.

This is a breakthrough decision and has the potential to fill the gap left by the decline of the shipbuilding industry,” says Marek Kubik, President of ARMS, “We hope that the wind energy industry will strengthen the economy of Szczecin. It is a completely new opening for the development of our city, an advanced development because it is based on modern technologies. The establishment of such a plant will certainly generate additional jobs and have a significant impact on the business environment and attract the company’s cooperators to our region.

The new factory will assemble nacelles and turbine hubs for windmills. The plant is expected to start up in the second half of 2024 and employ up to 700 people.

A key element of the investor’s decision to make Szczecin an offshore centre is its location, close access to water – via the Szczecin Lagoon to the sea – says Renata Polikowska, director at ARMS – Everything is coming together. In Szczecin there will be the production of components for wind farms, and in Świnoujście there will be the initial assembly. Once assembled, everything will be shipped to the Baltic Sea.

The factory in Szczecin and the installation port in Świnoujście are to be key elements in the realisation of the first Baltic Power offshore wind farm in Poland. This is a joint project between ORLEN Group and Northland Power, which will use modern turbines from Vestas. The farm will have a capacity of up to 1.2 GW and is expected to power more than 1.5 million households with clean energy from 2026. This is part of a green energy transition, giving security to our country.

Wind energy is a great opportunity for Szczecin. As experience and scientific studies have shown, our region has great opportunities and a good location for wind energy development.

According to statistics and the RES map, the West Pomeranian region produces as much as 82 percent of Poland’s renewable energy,” says Renata Polikowska, “The Baltic Sea is considered to be one of the best reservoirs for wind energy development. Today, of course, the Danes and Germans are the leaders, but other countries, including Poland, also want to develop in this direction. And in this, as Szczecin, we see our opportunity.

There are plans to build offshore wind farms in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea. Offshore wind energy will become increasingly important both in Europe and in Poland.

The onshore and offshore industry has been developing in Poland for a long time and we, as the city of Szczecin, have decided to activate our activities in order to better promote the offshore industry,” explains Marek Kubik, hence the idea to create a strategy: Zachodniopomorski Offshore 2027 and Szczecin Offshore 2025. We want to act together and show that there are two locations in Poland for the construction of offshore plants – apart from the Tricity, it is Szczecin and Zachodniopomorskie.

More on this during the offshore debate. On 7 November this year at 11.00 a.m. there will be another discussion with experts on the RES industry.

Participants in the debate:

– Michał Przepiera, Deputy Mayor of Szczecin,

– Jagna Kubańska-Łyczkowska, representative of Vestas,

– Andrzej Montwiłł, West Pomeranian Maritime Cluster,

– Jacek Wójcikowski, Director of the Centre for Economic Initiatives – WZ Marshal’s Office,

– Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Polish Wind Energy Association,

– Rafał Molenda, presenter/moderator.

Link to the event ➡ here