In winter, the first companies go out to sea with construction, and the government announces the delimitation of further areas in the Baltic Sea for the next phase of offshore wind energy development, in addition to the two already underway. ‘A report on the state of offshore development is being prepared, which will give us the basis for a substantive decision to delimit new areas for the development of offshore wind farms in the Baltic’, declared Arkadiusz Marchewka, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, at the Offshore Wind Poland Conference.

Arkadiusz Marchewka informed that already at the beginning of this year, a decision was made at the Ministry of Infrastructure to analyse the topicality of spatial development plans with a view to designating new areas for offshore wind farms in order to make the most effective use of the energy potential that is concentrated on the Baltic.

‘Any moment now, directors of maritime offices will submit to the Minister of Infrastructure a comprehensive report on the state of development of maritime areas, which will give us the basis for a substantive decision on the designation of new areas for the development of offshore wind farms in the Baltic,’ said the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure.

He went on to remind that thanks to the unblocking of funds from the National Reconstruction Plan (KPO), investments in Polish ports are being carried out.

‘In August, a building permit was issued for a new installation terminal in Gdansk. The aid from EU funds is PLN 900 million. We will also use EU funds to finance the development of service ports like Ustka, Leba and Darlowo. Within the framework of the KPO, the construction of terminal infrastructure in all these locations is a cost of 370 million euros. We have also recently launched a tender for the development of breakwaters in these ports’ – Arkadiusz Marchewka said.

The cost of building the T5 terminal is PLN 1.177 billion. Asked about the development of port investments, Deputy Minister Marchewka said that the implementation of the installation terminal in Gdansk has accelerated.

‘The construction decision has been issued. We already have a signed contract for the project. We want the terminal to be operational in the second half of 2026’ – added the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure.

This year, the motto of the Offshore Wind Poland conference was ‘From words to deeds – we are building!’.

‘Offshore wind farms have entered the implementation stage. We are building. The investment campaign in offshore wind farms is not comparable to any other development project in contemporary Poland. We are talking about PLN 300 billion by 2040. Paraphrasing the slogan of the US presidential election, “Let’s make Baltic Sea great again together”‘ – said Janusz Gajowiecki, President of the Board of the Polish Wind Energy Association (PWEA), the conference organiser.

According to the announcements made by government representatives present at the Offshore Wind Poland 2024 conference, everything indicates that the government realistically wants to base the Polish energy transition on wind energy. Offshore wind energy is a key technology for an effective and timely transformation of our energy system, as well as for ensuring the competitiveness and resilience of the Polish economy.

According to PWEA calculations, the energy potential of the Polish part of the Baltic Sea is considered to be one of the largest in Europe, reaching up to 33 GW. Its utilisation would allow almost 60 per cent of the country’s electricity needs to be met.

‘The Baltic Sea has a potential of 90 GW of power and could become the second supplier of wind energy after the North Sea’ – reported Lukasz Kolinski, head of RES policy at the European Commission.

According to the assumptions of the draft National Energy and Climate Plan, released for public consultation in October this year, wind is to account for as much as 136.9 TWh of the 195.3 TWh produced in the electricity sector in 2040 – that is 70 per cent.

In the coming years, offshore wind will become an important developmental stimulus for the Polish economy, with appropriate use of the national potential of Polish suppliers and the highest possible level of local content.

‘Poland is facing a great challenge – flipping energy sources from the south to the north. We have the best conditions of the countries in our region to become a wind energy hub. However, we do not sufficiently exploit the potential of our entrepreneurs, they should be more involved in the next phases of development’ – said Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament from 2009 to 2012, President of the Council of Ministers from 1997 to 2001.

Therefore, the Wind Industry Hub (WIH) Foundation and experts from the Polish Wind Energy Association have developed the first ‘Polish Strategy for the Development of the Offshore Wind Farm Industry’ [„Polska strategia rozwoju przemysłu morskich farm wiatrowych”]. The document discusses the challenges of the national supply chain and proposes systemic solutions, addressing issues of financing, education, innovation and security. An institutional roadmap and a business case for recommended development models within the identified priority programmes are also part of the study. This is a pioneering and the only such comprehensive roadmap for national industrial policy in the offshore wind sector in Poland – very well received by the market and the wind industry as a whole.

Broader prospects are opening up for offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, with work set to begin on new areas, preparing them for the construction of wind farms.

The Offshore Wind Poland 2024 conference is the largest industry event in Poland dedicated to offshore wind energy and was held on 20-21 November at the Grand Sheraton Hotel in Warsaw.

News source: PAP MediaRoom