What challenges does offshore wind energy currently face in Poland and Europe? How can cooperation between Baltic countries and investors improve energy security? What is needed to realise the ambitious goals of offshore wind development? These and other questions were answered by Agata Staniewska-Bolesta, Managing Director of Ørsted Offshore Poland and Bartosz Fedurek, CEO of PGE Baltica, among others, in a panel on the future of offshore wind energy in the Baltic Sea.
– The development of offshore wind energy in the Baltic is a subject of broadly understood European security, access to large volumes of renewable energy and, consequently, independence from fossil fuel imports. In this context, the role of cooperation between countries around the Baltic Sea, as well as between investors, is crucial. At the heart of this cooperation is, of course, ensuring energy security for Europeans. I am convinced that we can improve the conditions for offshore in the region by exchanging experience, information and exploiting synergies between projects and countries. Such synergies can be exemplified by interconnectors between countries with different energy profiles, in order to jointly create a stable and independent bloodstream for Europe – said Agata Staniewska Bolesta, Managing Director of Ørsted Offshore Poland.
Offshore wind is not only about energy transformation, building offshore wind farms and supply chains. It’s also about strong partnerships, deepening international relations, shared values and a drive for purpose, allowing us to look boldly into the future, as our Polish-Danish example shows – said Bartosz Fedurek, CEO of PGE Baltica. – As an industry in Poland, we are still at the beginning of the road. A bit like a teenager compared to the adult market participants in the world, exposed to all the childhood diseases associated with the development of a young market, requiring attention and care from legislators. But the example of the investment decision for Baltica 2 shows that it is possible to get there in such challenging times, which is our joint success and can be a model for others – added the PGE Baltica CEO, recalling how the Baltica 2 project has come a long way – from obtaining the location permit a dozen years ago, through the establishment of PGE’s cooperation with Ørsted, to the FID in January this year.
More than 100 people attended the industry meeting in Brussels. Among them were Urszula Zielińska, Deputy Minister for Climate and Environment; Łukasz Koliński, Director at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy; Pierre Tardieu from WindEurope; and Niels Fuglsang, MEP from Denmark and member of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE).
Participants were welcomed by Arkadiusz Pluciński, Deputy Permanent Representative of Poland to the European Union. The event was jointly organised by PGE and Ørsted in cooperation with the Euractiv portal.
In January this year, the investors – PGE and Ørsted – made the final investment decision for the Baltica 2 project. With 107 turbines with a total capacity of 1.5 GW, the Baltica 2 offshore wind farm will be able to supply green energy to more than 2.5 million homes in Poland, significantly contributing to the transformation of the Polish energy sector. PGE and Ørsted have already started building the onshore connection infrastructure. They have also contracted all the necessary components to start the construction of Baltica 2 offshore and have signed all the contracts for the installations – foundations, cables, turbines and offshore transformer stations. The partners have all the necessary construction permits. For the installation of the turbines, they have signed a lease agreement for port land in Gdansk. A PGE operations and maintenance base will be established in Ustka, which will be used during the operation phase of the wind farm.
Find out more about Baltica Offshore Wind Farm by visiting baltica.energy
