ORLEN Signs Grid Connection Agreement for 1.2 GW Offshore Wind Farm

Poland’s Baltic Power, a member of the ORLEN Group, has signed a grid connection agreement with Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne for its offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea.

The ORLEN Group is making preparations for the construction of the offshore wind farm with a capacity of up to 1.2 GW. The wind farm is located approximately 23 kilometres off the coast of Łeba and Choczewo and will cover an area of approximately 131 square kilometres.

ORLEN plans to start constructing the wind farm in 2024.

The electricity generated by the wind farm will be exported via an underground cable connection linking the turbines with an onshore power station.

A Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne-operated station will be built specifically for the purposes of receiving and transmitting electricity from offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.

”We aim to start producing electricity in the Pomerania region in the coming years that will power up to one million households,” said Daniel Obajtek, President of the PKN ORLEN Management Board.

”This is a huge venture requiring a significant extension of the transmission network in the north of Poland. Investments in this segment will need to be made by Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne. The agreement we have signed is a clear sign our project is entering the advanced phase of preparations.”

Onshore geological surveys along the wind farm’s connection route started in November. ORLEN contracted ENPROM to work on preparing the wind farm’s cable connection. ENPROM is responsible for the design and building permit application for the necessary infrastructure.

The contract covers preparation of the connection route both along the offshore section and the onshore section.

ORLEN, a fuel and energy company, plans to invest PLN 47 billion (around EUR 10.4 billion) in low- and zero-emissions generation sources, including offshore wind, by the end of the decade.