Orlen: offshore potential may soon expand by about 5.2 GW
As part of the announced results for the awarding of 6 new wind farm sites in the Baltic Sea, the highest number of points for 5 sites was awarded to Orlen Group, the company said. It added that this means that the company’s offshore potential could soon increase by around 5.2 GW.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Infrastructure announced the results of the process of awarding six new locations for wind farms planned in the Polish waters of the Baltic Sea. Orlen Group received the highest number of points for five locations.
– The Orlen Group is the best prepared company in Poland for large-scale offshore wind investments. This is a result of experience gained, among others, in the execution of the Baltic Power project and the construction of Poland’s first installation terminal for offshore wind farms, Orlen CEO Daniel Obajtek said, as quoted in the communiqué.
He added that the company’s experience will be used in the construction of further farms, including on five new concessions that “we have just managed to secure”.
– The implementation of these investments could increase Orlen Group’s offshore wind potential to around 5.8 GW. The planned investments in the Baltic Sea are crucial from the point of view of the implementation of the multienergy company’s business strategy, but also from the point of view of the region’s energy security, the head of Orlen stressed.
It was explained that the concession process assessed, among other things, the project’s contribution to national and EU climate goals, experience in implementing energy projects and the possibility of financing them. The concessions secured by Orlen Group are located at the level of Kołobrzeg and Łeba and are situated about 30 km from the coastline.
According to the company’s strategy, the corporation aims to obtain approximately 9 GW of installed RES capacity by 2030. Part of this is to be offshore wind energy projects, which is why the corporation has applied for 11 location permits.
– With the results announced by the Ministry of Infrastructure, the generation potential of the concessions held by Orlen Group will increase by approximately 5.2 GW, it was noted.
It was recalled that the Baltic Power investment, carried out together with Canada’s Northland Power, is the most advanced offshore wind farm project in Poland. In May this year. Baltic Power started the construction of onshore infrastructure in the Choczewo municipality to deliver electricity produced at sea to the national grid. Work at sea will begin in 2024, and in 2026 Baltic Power’s farm is expected to start producing energy.
Orlen has also decided to build Poland’s first offshore wind farm installation terminal in the port of Świnoujście. It is expected to be ready at the turn of 2024 and 2025. The terminal will primarily serve the Baltic Power project and will also support the handling of other developers’ projects and Orlen’s subsequent offshore investments.
Source: PortalMorski.pl
