Infrastructure potential of Port Gdynia in offshore wind sector
The Port of Gdynia, which promotes its infrastructure potential in the offshore lift sector, was hosted by Ireneusz Zyska, Secretary of State, Government plenipotentiary for renewable energy sources. From the eastern side, the Port of Gdynia is the closest port to the maritime areas envisaged for the location of wind farms.
The potential of the port areas is conducive to the development of alternative – ecological energy sources in Poland – we read in the official announcement of the port board.
The Port of Gdynia analyses solutions for the development of the offshore wind sector, and participates in the creation of facilities for handling elements of offshore wind farms, including the municipalities of Kosakowo, Rumia and Gdynia.
Secretary of State, Government Plenipotentiary for Renewable Energy Sources, Ireneusz Zyska, during Thursday’s press briefing of the Port Gdynia Authority said:
“Today’s visit to the Port Gdynia is related to the choice of location for the offshore wind industry installation port. We have a great treasure in Poland, nature has given us very good wind conditions on the Baltic Sea. Today, as we know 80 % of energy comes from coal, in the perspective of the development of the energy mix by 2030 we want to change this state of affairs. A large business ecosystem based on offshore wind farms according to the idea of local content in order to involve local companies that already have experience in this sector”.
“We want to be the main operator, so that it is in the Port Gdynia that sets of wind farms are completed and then exported to licensed maritime areas. We have experience in onshore transshipments of wind farm constructions, carried out on container terminal areas, and have the advantage of a convenient location. We hope that the Port Gdynia will become a direct beneficiary of this huge government investment programme. Thinking about renewable energy sources in the green port concept, we have foreseen an area for the offshore wind sector at the end of the Outer Port” – comments Adam Meller, President of the Port Gdynia Authority SA.
Port Gdynia Seaport Authority SA is also interested in purchasing the entire area of the Naval Shipyard’s resources, under its pre-emptive right. The acquired land is to increase the functionality of port services, with particular emphasis on the construction and operation of Polish offshore wind farms on the Baltic Sea.
The Polish government has a strategy to obtain energy from renewable sources, one of which is wind. The best place to use it is the maritime area, where the wind blows for about 330 days a year. Therefore, offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea have a chance to play a key role in Poland’s energy transformation towards a low-carbon economy, to contribute to the country’s energy security and help in the fight against air pollution.
Moreover, the location of the windmills at a distance of more than 20 kilometres from the coastline will not disrupt the coastal landscape of Poland and will drive the economic development of coastal areas and Poland as a whole. Expert calculations show that the installation of 6 GW offshore wind farms by 2030 will create 77 thousand jobs across the country, generate about 60 billion PLN of value added to GDP and 15 billion CIT and VAT revenues. These will be gigantic investments, worth billions of zlotys, which require an appropriate port and extensive onshore industrial and service facilities.
In connection with the planned implementation of the National Programme for the Development of Offshore Wind Energy, concerning the construction of offshore wind farms on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, the Port Gdynia Authority SA has carried out a preliminary investigation of the possibility of adapting the owned land for the handling, storage and assembly of elements of offshore wind farms.
Rel (ZMP Gdynia)
