The Baltic Windustry 2022 conference, organized by the Center for Offshore Wind Energy at Gdansk University of Technology together with the Polish Wind Energy Association (PWEA), will be held in Gdansk on September 8, 2022.
The Baltic Windustry 2022 Conference is organized under the Honorary Patronage of His Magnificence Professor Krzysztof Wilde, Rector of the Gdansk University of Technology. The main objective of the event is to present the value of industrial and research cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. We invite you to register your participation in the event HERE.
We talked with Ph.D. Eng Hossein Ghaemi of the Institute of Ocean Engineering and Shipbuilding at Gdansk University of Technology and Dariusz Locinski, CEO at PGE Baltica about the benefits of research cooperation in the area of offshore wind energy. We encourage you to read the entire article with statements from the specialists in the BalticWind.eu Poland Q2/2022 Quarterly Report.
Industrial research – the key to offshore wind industry’s synergy with universities
The development of offshore wind energy is an excellent opportunity to solidify cooperation between the industry and Polish universities. Industrial research, as an element of cooperation between the industry and science, can increase the involvement of Polish know-how in the development of wind farms in the Baltic Sea. Representatives of Gdańsk University of Technology and PGE Baltica speak about the potential cooperation in a commentary for BalticWind.EU.
Industrial research will be the key theme of the upcoming Baltic Windustry conference, which will take place on 8 September 2022 in Gdansk, Poland. The organisers – Offshore Wind Energy Center of Gdansk University of Technology and Polish Wind Energy Association – have invited prominent professionals in the offshore wind industry, which has already had its first experiences in cooperation with universities. Representatives of science and the offshore wind industry will discuss the opportunities and benefits of the synergy. Experts argue, in an interview with BalticWind.EU – the media patron of the event, that the responsibility lies on both sides, but also on the side of state institutions, so as to build strong and lasting relationships between universities and the industry.
Ph.D. Eng Hossein Ghaemi of the Institute of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering, Gdańsk University of Technology, stresses that in technological sectors, such as offshore wind energy, university-industry cooperation is the basis of development for both sides. Above all, universities must take care of appropriately qualifying future personnel.
“If technical universities, which are mainly state-owned, are unable to provide adequate personnel for the sustainable development of the industry and do not solve existing or anticipated problems of the industry with targeted research and development, they are practically unnecessary institutions, unnecessarily burdening the state budget”, he stresses.
In turn, companies in the energy sector should take care of their personnel development strategy based on long-term development goals.
“On the other hand, an industry that does not cooperate with universities, does not analyze its future personnel needs and does not build its development strategy on the basis of such analyses, does not take part in consultations conducted by universities on courses and programs of study, and does not actively support university students and staff, is doomed to stagnation and subsequent degradation”, he adds.
Gdansk University of Technology and offshore wind energy
Ph.D. Eng. Hossein Ghaemi emphasizes that the faculty is developing cooperation with the economic community and industry, also in the field of offshore wind energy. As of February 2022, a new MSc cohort entitled “Design and construction of marine power systems” has been launched on the basis of a MoU with PGE, Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), and DTU (Danish Technical University). As part of this MoU, an additional agreement was signed with PGE Baltica in January 2022.
Prof. Andrzej Seweryn, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Ship Technology at Gdańsk University of Technology (FMEST) and Dariusz Lociński, CEO of PGE Baltica. Source: FMEST/ Patrycja Oryl
Experience of Polish offshore wind developers
Dariusz Locinski, CEO of PGE Baltica, points out that the company, which has been developing the PGE Group’s offshore program, has been cooperating with Polish universities on joint studies related to offshore issues for some time now.
“We believe that this way we can jointly educate specialized personnel for this fledgling renewable energy sector in Poland. With Gdynia Maritime University, we are conducting postgraduate studies in offshore risk management, and with Gdansk University of Technology we have a specialty in Master degree on the design and construction of offshore energy systems. In turn, a postgraduate program, joint with PGE, on the management of preparation and implementation of investments in offshore wind farms will start in October at Lazarski University in Warsaw”, enumerates Lociński.
You can read the full article in BalticWind.EU Quarterly Country Report Poland Q2 2022.
