Polish Offshore Wind Area Unawarded, Government Says No Applicant Met Project Timeline Criterion

January 5, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

One of the eleven offshore wind areas the Polish government put up for auction last year has reached the decision point with no winners chosen as the Ministry of Infrastructure concluded none of the applications met the qualifying minimum in terms of project implementation timeline.

On 2 January, the Ministry issued an announcement on the results of the proceedings for the area 53.E.1, in which it says none of the developers that filed applications to build and operate wind farms in that area “obtained the minimum qualification”.

Screenshot; Geoportal of the Spatial Information System of the Maritime Administration (SIPAM)

According to the document, the criterion that turned out to be the stumbling stone is related to the timeline for the construction and commissioning of a project.

“The proposed schedules for the implementation of the project did not include the deadlines for obtaining a building permit and, at the same time, a ban on erecting and using artificial islands, structures and devices in the basin before the end of 2040”, the Ministry stated.

With regard to the applicable regulations, it is not possible to develop a feasible implementation schedule for a project that would obtain a permit in 2022 or 2023, the Ministry concluded.

“Since none of the applicants has achieved the qualification minimum, the Minister of Infrastructure considers the proceedings unresolved”.

Two of the applicants for the area 53.E.1 are RWE and PKN Orlen, who announced their bids last year, with RWE revealing that the company filed applications for all eleven areas.

In October, RWE specified its bid for the now unawarded area. For the 53.E.1 site, the developer proposed to build a 1.5 GW offshore wind project named Freeboard I, a unique concept for this particular offshore area, which focuses on the efficient area co-usage.

According to the Polish news site Gospodarkamorska.pl, this specific area also saw applications from Shell, Equinor, and EDF, who also announced their bids in Poland last year.

Permits awarded for the areas now being offered by the Polish government have the chance to qualify and participate in Contract for Difference (CfD) auctions starting in 2025.