Push for Polish Offshore Wind

Poland has started to tap into offshore wind only very recently in the draft of their latest Energy Policy Act. But the country has a huge potential - it is estimated that the Baltic Sea off the Polsih coast can host offshore wind of 8 GW. This attracts international offshore wind companies like Equinor from Norway.

In May 2018, the company already acquired a 50 % interest in the planned offshore wind areas Baltyk II and Baltyk III. Now Equinor has announced to acquire another 50 % interest in offshore wind development project Baltyk I. The Baltyk I location license allows for the development of wind farms with a capacity of up to 1560 MW of which Equinor will hold 50%. The wind farm area is located in the Baltic Sea in water depths of 25-35 meters, approximately 81 kilometers from the port of Leba.

"We are very pleased to further deepen our presence in Poland and to work with Polenergia, which is an experienced energy company with an in-depth knowledge of the Polish energy market. This acquisition strengthens our presence in the Baltic Sea area giving opportunities for scale and synergies in a longer perspective,” says Jens Økland, Senior vice president for strategy and business development in New energy solutions in Equinor. 

The project is still in an early stage. The companies will form a 50/50 joint venture to further mature it towards future auction and final investment decisions (FID) with Equinor as the manager for construction preparation and the potential construction and operational phases.