The Baltic Sea is one of the areas of interest for investors in the offshore wind energy sector, including Danish giant Ørsted. The Danes will develop two offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea in cooperation with the largest electricity producer. How does the company view the Polish market? We ask Rasmus Errboe, Senior Vice President Ørsted Offshore, Continental Europe.
Ørsted started its activity in Poland in 1990, which means that it knows very well the needs of the Polish energy sector. The Danes are involved in the construction of two offshore wind farms Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 (total capacity of up to 2.5 GW) in cooperation with PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna. The entities each have 50 percent of the shares in the joint venture. Both projects have obtained environmental permits and have grid connection agreements in place. On April 7, 2021, the Polish Energy Regulatory Office granted differential contracts for the projects (under Phase I support). This is a big opportunity for the Polish Baltic offshore wind sector and supply chain players.
„Offshore wind will play an important role in the transformation of the Polish energy market and in improving security of supply. It’s a clean and affordable source of electricity that creates economic activity, local jobs and a platform for developing a Polish supply chain which can compete for national as well as international contracts” – says Rasmus Errboe, Senior Vice President Ørsted Offshore, Continental Europe in a commentary for the BalticWind.eu.
He added that Poland is emerging as the front runner in offshore wind energy sector in the Baltic Sea. – „We are very excited to enter the Polish offshore wind market in partnership with PGE. The Baltica 2 and 3 projects, which we aim to build between 2026 and 2030 and which will have a total capacity of 2.5 GW, are part of our recently updated ambition to install 30 GW offshore wind until 2030” – he explained.
Over the past decade, Ørsted has built a global market-leading position in renewable energy with a total of 12 GW of installed renewable capacity. Ørsted’s strategic ambition for build-out of renewable energy is raised from +30 GW announced at the Capital Markets Day in 2018 to approximately 50 GW until 2030, of which approximately 30 GW will come from offshore wind energy sector.
“We commend the Polish government for being ambitious and setting a target of installing 11 GW offshore wind capacity until 2040. This gives visibility for the large infrastructure investments that developers will need to make in Poland„- the Senior Vice President Ørsted Offshore told BalticWind.Eu.
The Polish market is not the only area of interest for Ørsted. In April 2021, the wind giant Ørsted and company Enefit, one of the largest energy companies in the Baltic countries, established cooperation in the field of wind energy in the Baltic Sea
