German electric utility innogy has won an auction in Poland to construct two wind farms totaling 85.2MW.
Image: innogy wins auction for 85MW wind portfolio in Poland. Photo: Courtesy of innogy.
innogy stated that the two wind farms include Zukowice onshore wind farm, a 33MW project based in Lower Silesia and Dolice project with a planned installed capacity of 52.2MW, located in Western Pomerania.
The Polish energy regulatory authority conducted the tender auction. innogy stated that it will take financial investment decisions (FIDs) for the two wind farms in the beginning of next year.
innogy renewables chief operating officer Hans Bünting said: “We already operate eight onshore wind farms in Poland and want to further expand our portfolio there. We are very pleased that both of our projects, Zukowice and Dolice, were successful in Poland’s first onshore wind auction. The market was yearning for the first auction to take place.
“This was an important step towards sustainable investment fostering Poland´s Energy Transition. innogy has seen significant successes in wind auctions in recent years right across Europe.“
Wind energy is claimed to be an important and mature renewable energy source in Poland. The country aims to generate at least 15% of its electricity from renewable by 2020. Presently, the country has an installed capacity of 6GW in wind capacity.
innogy stated that the country is one of its core markets. It already operates eight onshore wind farms with an installed capacity of more than 240MW.
These wind farms are located across four regions including Nowy Staw, situated near the city of Gdansk, Opalenica in the region of Poznan, Krzecin and Tychowo are located in Western Pomerania, and the wind farms Suwalki, Piecki and Taciewo are situated next to each other in Podlachia in the northeast of Poland.
In September, the German utility inaugurated the 353MW Galloper offshore wind farm, located 27km from the coast of Suffolk, the UK.
The company had spent nearly £1.5bn for the construction of this offshore wind farm, while providing 700 jobs during the construction period. As the wind farm is now inaugurated, it is expected to generate enough electricity to be supplied to 380,000 UK homes.