ORLEN’s Second Offshore Wind Farm Nears Reality as Baltic East Receives Environmental Approval
ORLEN Group has taken a significant step forward in building its offshore wind capacity in Poland: the Baltic East project has secured an environmental decision from the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Gdańsk (RDOŚ).
Once completed, Baltic East is expected to offer around 1 GW of installed capacity — enough to power more than 1.25 million households with clean energy.
According to Ireneusz Fąfara, President of the Management Board of ORLEN, the environmental decision marks a “key milestone” that will enable participation in Poland’s first offshore wind auction. The project not only expands Poland’s offshore wind capacity, but also offers “real opportunities for broad-based collaboration with domestic suppliers”. Fąfara emphasises that Polish companies are targeted to account for up to half of the project’s value throughout its lifecycle, reinforcing ORLEN’s strategy of growth, security and independence.
Janusz Bil, President of the Management Board of ORLEN Neptun, highlights that obtaining the decision so quickly demonstrates the dedication and expertise of the ORLEN Neptun team. With this approval in hand, Baltic East is entering its decisive phase: finalising permitting, securing financing and moving towards a final investment decision in preparation for grid entry in 2032.
In its development work, Baltic East has already engaged several dozen Polish firms — including seven companies providing installation terminal services, more than a dozen advisory service firms, and a consortium of three Polish companies performing preliminary seismic and geotechnical surveys.
Environmental decision & auction context
This environmental decision covers the turbines, foundations, offshore substations and inter-array cables. A separate environmental procedure is underway for the grid-connection infrastructure. Baltic East already holds a siting decision (PSZW), a preliminary grid connection conditions decision and a permit to lay and maintain cables in internal sea waters and the territorial sea (PUUK).
The upcoming offshore wind auction, scheduled for December, will allocate support (via contracts for difference) to projects up to a total capacity of 4 GW. Only projects with environmental decisions are eligible. Participation in that auction is a major step forward for Baltic East.
Baltic East will be built on a roughly 110 km² site, approximately 22.5 km off Poland’s Baltic Sea coast, adjacent to the newer Baltic Power wind farm currently under construction.
This project is part of ORLEN’s broader offshore wind portfolio (six licences in total) and is intended to strengthen Poland’s energy security, boost clean electricity generation, and enhance domestic supply‐chain development. First power generation from Baltic Power (a separate project) is expected as early as next year; full delivery of all of ORLEN’s offshore wind projects is targeted by 2040.
