Ørsted Close to Buying Into Polish Offshore Wind Projects

Ørsted and PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna S.A. (PGE) have entered the final stage of negotiations to jointly develop two offshore wind farms in the Polish Baltic Sea with the combined capacity of 2.5 GW.

As reported last October, PGE and Ørsted started negotiating the sale of 50 per cent stakes in two special purpose companies developing the 1 GW Baltica 3 and the 1.5 GW Baltica 2 project.

The special purpose companies, Elektrownia Wiatrowa Baltica-3 sp. z o.o. and Elektrownia Wiatrowa Baltica-2 sp z o.o., are currently fully-owned by PGE.

”As the largest energy group in Poland, we want to develop our experience and competences in the new offshore sector by working with the best,” Wojciech Dąbrowski, the President of PGE, said during the Security Forum Szczecin conference in Szczecin, Poland.

”That is why we have invited Ørsted to the final stage of negotiations. Ørsted is the leader in the offshore wind market who built the first ever offshore wind farm, and is the largest offshore wind farm operator in the world.”

The wind farms are located approximately 25-30 kilometres from the coastal city of Łeba.

PGE secured the environmental permits for the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 projects in January.

Baltica 2 is expected to generate first power by 2025 and be fully commissioned in 2026. Baltica 3 is scheduled to be completed by 2030.

PGE is also developing a third offshore wind project, the 900MW Baltica 1, which is expected to be operational after 2030.

Poland has recently presented a draft offshore wind bill which calls for 5.9 GW of capacity to be awarded via Contracts for Difference (CfD) auctions by July 2021.

The second and the third auction phases would follow in 2025 and 2027, with each of the auctions offering 2.5 GW in capacity.