EIB, EBRD Lend EUR 600 Million to Build ‘EU’s Largest Offshore Wind Farm’

February 3, 2025, by Adrijana Buljan

The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have entered into agreements with the Baltica 2 offshore wind farm developer(s) to provide a total of EUR 600 million in financing for the 1.5 GW Polish offshore wind project, EUR 400 million coming from EIB and EUR 200 million from EBRD.

Ørsted and PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE), the joint owners and developers of the offshore wind farm, said on 30 January they took the final investment decision (FID) on Baltica 2, moving the project into the construction phase.

Ørsted, PGE Take Final Investment Decision on 1.5 GW Baltica 2 Offshore Wind Farm

Project Updates

According to PGE, the Baltica 2 offshore wind project obtained PLN 11.1 billion (approximately EUR 2.6 billion) in loans from 24 Polish and international financial institutions, including EIB and EBRD.

EIB said on 30 January that it signed an agreement to support PGE with a EUR 400 million loan towards the design and construction of Baltica 2, noting that this was the European Union’s largest offshore wind farm to date. Currently, the EU’s largest offshore wind farm is the 1.5 GW Hollandse Kust Zuid in the Netherlands, built across four sites (Hollandse Kust Zuid I & II and Hollandse Kust Zuid III & IV) off the Dutch coast between the towns of Scheveningen and Zandvoort.

EIB also added that the EUR 400 million is the first part of a EUR 1.4 billion package approved by the EU’s climate bank to support PGE and Ørsted in building two new large-scale offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea, Baltica 2 and Baltica 3.

2.5 GW Baltica Offshore Wind Project Secures EIB Financing

Wind Farm Update

“Underpinned by significant EU support that includes funds from InvestEU, REPowerEU and Recovery and Resilience Facility, the strategic investment will contribute to Poland’s energy transition and security, as well as strengthening cooperation and energy security in the Baltic Sea region”, EIB said.

On 31 January, EBRD said it was supporting the financing of the construction and development of the Baltica 2 offshore wind farm with a EUR 200 million loan. The EBRD’s financing is provided through a consortium of international and local commercial lenders, the European Investment Bank, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark.

“With concerns for energy security growing amidst geopolitical tensions, Poland has increased its climate ambitions, pledging to generate 58 per cent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The growth of offshore wind energy deployment is seen as key to reducing the country’s coal-fired energy generation and meeting this target. Energy security and the climate transition also remain key priorities for the Polish government under Poland’s rotating presidency of the European Council”, EBRD stated.

Baltica 2 will be built at a site in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea approximately 40 kilometres off the Polish coast near Ustka.

The project will comprise 107 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW-222 turbines for whose storage, pre-assembly, and offshore installation Siemens Gamesa will use the Port of Gdansk.

The 1.5 GW Baltica 2 is part of the 2.5 GW Baltica Offshore Wind Farm, which will also comprise the 1 GW Baltica 3.

Construction of the Baltica 2 is expected to be completed by the end of 2027 and the Baltica 3 is planned to come online by 2030. PGE and Ørsted also plan to build a third project as part of this portfolio, Baltica 1, which would go online after 2030 if progressed to construction.