PFR invests PLN 500 million in offshore wind installation terminal in Gdansk

The Polish Development Fund will build an installation terminal for the operation of Offshore Wind Farms (OWF) at the BalticHub port in Gdansk. Part of the financing for the investment is to come from the National Reconstruction Plan (KPO). The project will contribute to the dynamic development of wind energy in the Baltic Sea. It is scheduled for completion in 2026. PFR’s investment in a new terminal at the port of Gdansk will expand Poland’s area by 21 hectares.

The investment involves the creation of a new quay and yard at the BalticHub terminal covering an area of as much as 21 hectares, with the length of the transhipment quay being 800 metres (the approx. 451-metre-long section is designed to handle installation vessels and the approx. 349-metre-long section for service vessels) and the depth of the basin at the quay being 17.5 metres. This will allow the berthing of installation vessels and supply/service vessels for offshore wind farms with an overall length of up to 170 metres. The project will also include a berth for ro-ro vessels with a quay ramp and a temporary quay structure enclosing the T5 area at a location adjacent to the future planned T4 terminal.

Earlier this year, the project company (special purpose vehicle) launched a competitive procedure for the selection of a general contractor. Construction work is scheduled to start in mid-2024 and be completed in 2026. The project is being implemented in a ‘design and build’ model.

A tender was launched with a deadline for submitting bids of 5 April 2024. The successful contractor is to be responsible for the design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance of a service base for offshore wind farms. It is to be built at the planned T5 terminal adjacent to the operational T1 container terminal and the T3 terminal currently under construction.

“Offshore wind energy is crucial for the energy transformation of the Polish economy. PFR’s investment in the installation terminal in the port of Gdansk is a strategic project that will stimulate the development in Poland of the entire supply chain for the construction of wind farms in the Baltic Sea,” said Paweł Borys, president of the Polish Development Fund.

The investment assumes financing from two sources. The special-purpose company set up to implement the project has applied for a direct grant, and the project has been identified for implementation from the EU’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRP). In turn, the PFR Investment Fund FIZAN will provide complementary debt financing to cover expenditures, VAT financing and will take a stake in the SPV implementing the project.

The special purpose vehicle in question is Istrana Sp. z o.o., whose shares are 100 per cent owned by Baltic Hub Container Terminal sp. z o.o.

The Polish Development Fund (PFR) is one of the shareholders (30 per cent) of the Baltic Hub terminal, alongside PSA International (40 per cent) and IFM Investors (30 per cent).

Demand for offshore wind installation terminal infrastructure in the Baltic Sea is growing rapidly, in the context of planned investments in offshore wind farms. The estimated value of investments in offshore wind energy will amount to
approximately PLN 130 billion in the coming years. The construction of the first wind turbines in the Baltic is planned for 2026/2027. By 2030, offshore wind energy will supply electricity annually to around 8 million households in Poland.

At the beginning of 2021, the Council of Ministers approved Poland’s Energy Policy until 2040 (PEP 2040). Its objectives include the development of renewable energy sources and the implementation of offshore wind energy. The European Union’s (EU) climate and energy policy, including its long-term vision of aiming for EU climate neutrality by 2050, also has a significant impact on shaping the national energy strategy.

In the international context, the so-called ‘Paris Agreement’, concluded in 2015 on climate change (COP21), is crucial for current policy and action. It stipulates the need to stop the increase in global average temperature at less than 2°C from pre-industrial levels.

Offshore wind farm projects will be developed in the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic Sea in the area designated in the Maritime Area Management Plan in the Słupsk Shoal, the Central Shoal and the Odrzańska Shoal. In Polish areas, they will be set back from the coastline by no less than 22 km.

Source: PortalMorski.pl