The company in charge of PGE Group’s Offshore Program is looking for a general contractor to prepare a detailed design and build an operations and maintenance base (OM base) to service offshore wind farms. The new port infrastructure will breathe new life into the left bank part of Ustka. The selection of a construction company brings with it the chance to involve more domestic players in the investment. See what the new port infrastructure will look like:
The contractor will be tasked with preparing complete design documentation, constructing the facilities and obtaining legal permits for their use. The investment has been divided into several phases, two main ones being an operations and maintenance base and a car park with an access road. The optional scope of the contract includes a part of the base which can be used as a back-up facility to support construction of offshore wind farms, as well as refurbishment of one of the port’s quays and the so-called construction basin, which in the future could provide additional independent port space.
The announcement of the tender procedure for a general contractor is an important step in the project to realize the operations and maintenance base in Ustka. We want to make a selection and sign a contract later this year, so that construction work can begin in early 2025 and the entire base will be ready by the end of 2026 as explained by Bartosz Fedurek, CEO of PGE Baltica. – The location of the OM base in Ustka was determined by the distance from the projected wind farms, optimal navigational conditions for reaching the wind farm area from the port in the shortest possible time, abundant accommodation and catering facilities, as well as an extraordinary social potential of this city and region – he adds.
This is how the port will change
The PGE Baltica operations and maintenance base in Ustka will be built on an area of more than 2.3 hectares on the site where the “Korab” fish processing plant operated years ago. It will consist of an administrative building, a storage building, a maneuvering area and a quay where special high-speed service crew transfer vessels (CTV) to the area of offshore wind farms will be moored. The buildings of the base have also been carefully designed architecturally, so as to harmoniously and aesthetically fit into the charming and touristic character of Ustka.
I look with appreciation at how PGE Baltica is consistently implementing its plans. The area where the base will be built has a sentimental dimension for the people of Ustka, many residents worked in the fish processing plant that used to exist there. This type of plant has unfortunately not survived the changes, but I am glad that marine-related facilities will be built in the port. Ustka will play an important role in Poland’s energy transition – the development of offshore wind energy is a great opportunity for us and the whole Pomerania. I am glad that the City has such a partner – PGE Baltica is not only creating a service base here, but is successfully involved in the life of Ustka, supporting social organizations and investments serving the residents – said Jacek Maniszewski, Mayor of the City of Ustka.
Source: PGE
Participation of Polish companies in constructing of the Ustka base
PGE Baltica estimates that the base alone will employ approx. 100 people. But its potential for job creation is much greater. So far, only Polish entities that proved to be the best in the tenders have worked on the preparation of the investment – from site inventory through surveys of the land and the bottom of the port basin, preparation of various types of analysis, including navigational conditions, and later preparation of the design documentation necessary to obtain a building permit. The company that carried out the demolition of the remains of the former industrial buildings employed subcontractors in the form of national and local surveying and transportation companies, as well as waste disposal companies.
The general contractor will work with subcontractors. This is another opportunity for construction companies from Pomerania to join the project. In addition, PGE Baltica will also employ a contract engineering team for the project, which means more jobs for the construction of the base. It is estimated that at the peak of construction, up to 150 people could be employed at the site.
Source: PGE
The PGE Group’s Offshore Programme assumes construction of the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm by 2030, to be implemented in two phases – Baltica 2 and Baltica 3, with a total installed capacity of up to 2.5 GW. These projects are being developed jointly with Ørsted. Then, after 2030, the Baltica 1 Offshore Wind Farm with a capacity of approx. 0.9 GW will join the company’s portfolio. By acquiring new areas for development in the Baltic, the PGE Group will be able to build more offshore wind farms by 2040. Together with the projects currently under construction, this will allow it to achieve more than 7 GW of installed offshore generation capacity.
Source: PGE
