We reported on BalticWind.EU that on 21 January 2022, Poland’s Ministry of Infrastructure published three announcements regarding new concessions for offshore wind energy. Several companies have declared their will to take part in the proceedings, others have already submitted applications. Competition in the Polish Baltic Sea area is intensifying.
Three additional offshore areas will soon be available to next offshore wind developers. Concession proceedings may be dominated by Polish companies, particularly those owned by the Polish State Treasury.
Poland’s largest power producer PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna has submitted three applications to the Ministry of Infrastructure for the issuance of location permits for the construction of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea. Currently, PGE is carrying out investments in the Baltic Sea on the basis of three location permits obtained in 2012 (decision no. MFW/3/12, MFW/4/12, MFW/5/12). In November 2021, PGE filed applications for two siting permits (Areas 43.E.1 and 60.E.3) and on 26 January 2022, for three more, bringing the total to five applications that PGE has currently filed.
Filed on 26 January of this year, three applications for permits to erect and use artificial islands for newly released areas are for areas numbered 60.E.4, 44.E.1 and 14.E.1. For two of these areas, 14.E.1 and 60.E.4, PGE submitted the application jointly with Enea under special purpose vehicles established in November 2021.
Polish oil company PKN Orlen has filed three applications for offshore wind farm sites, as announced by Jaroslaw Dybowski, Executive Director of the Energy Department in PKN Orlen. Together with its partner Northland Power, the Polish company is currently implementing the Baltic Power project with a capacity of up to 1.2 GW, which will ultimately supply up to one million households with clean electricity.
At the end of January 2022, the Swedish investor OX2 announced that they plan to participate in the second round of permit procedures for the construction of artificial islands for wind farms in the Polish area of the Baltic Sea together with a partner, whose name wasn’t mentioned. Katarzyna Suchcicka, Country Manager of OX2 in Poland, informed about the company’s declaration.
– We also know that discussions are underway to expand plans to perhaps include a third round of proceedings. We are also active in relation to this topic”, she added, as quoted by ISB News agency.
Some companies have communicated that they will not participate in the proceedings. – Polenergia will not participate in proceedings for new offshore concessions, Polenergia’s Head of Offshore Wind Development, Maciej Stryjecki, stated. It’s a Polish, privately owned energy company that saw huge potential in offshore wind in 2010. In 2018, it entered into cooperation with Equinor establishing joint implementation of the Baltic II and Baltic III offshore wind farm projects. In December 2019, it signed a cooperation agreement for the Baltic I offshore wind farm project. The total capacity of the projects developed by Polenergia together with Norway’s Equinor is 3 GW.
According to government assumptions included in the Energy Policy of Poland until 2040, offshore wind farms in the Polish Baltic Sea zone will have a total capacity of approx. 8-11 GW..