Baltica Offshore Wind Farm, Poland

Baltica Offshore Wind Farm is one of the largest offshore wind farm projects in the world planned to be developed in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.

The up to 2.5GW project will be developed in two stages- Baltica 2 with an approximate capacity of 1.5GW and Baltica 3 with a planned capacity of 1GW.

The project will be delivered by a 50/50 joint venture of Danish multinational energy company Ørsted and Polish electric power company PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.

Baltica 2 is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2027 and Baltica 3 by the end of 2029. The other wind farm Baltica 1 is expected to enter commercial operations after 2030.

The development of the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm is aligned with Ørsted’s goal to achieve 30GW of total installed capacity in offshore wind energy worldwide by 2030 and PGE’s strategy of having 2.5GW of installed power in the Polish Baltic Sea by 2030.

Baltica 2 and 3 location details

The Baltic 2 and 3 offshore wind farms will be developed between Łeba and Ustka in the Baltic Sea. The project will encompass an overall surface area of about 320km².

Baltica 2 will be located around 40km from the shore, while the distance between the shore and the Baltica 3’s closest wind turbines will be at least 25km.

The necessary land infrastructure for the wind farm will be located in Choczewo Commune.

Background

In January 2019, PGE Baltica was established to develop offshore wind farms.

A preliminary agreement was signed between PGE and Ørsted in December 2019 for negotiations on the transaction of 50% shares in the two wind farm construction projects in the Baltic Sea.

The environmental decision for the wind farm was issued in 2020.

In February 2021, PGE and Ørsted entered into an agreement to establish the 50/50 joint venture for the development, construction and operation of the Baltica 2 and 3 projects.

The agreement was finalised in May 2021.

The environmental decision for connection infrastructure was issued by The Regional Director of Environmental Protection in Gdansk in 2022.

The projects have received Contracts for Difference (CfD), while the European Commission and the President of the Polish Energy Regulatory Office have also issued decisions on the individual level of support.

Baltica Offshore Wind Farm details

The Baltica Offshore Wind Farm will consist of around 180 wind turbines across an area of 320km². The Baltica 2 will have more than 100 turbines, while Baltica 3 will feature 80 of them.

The Baltica 2 wind farm will feature four offshore substations, each equipped with two transformers, to collect power generated by the turbines.

The two wind farms will transport the renewable energy produced by the wind farms through a connection infrastructure of combined cable corridor to the onshore transmission network.

A sea land drilling will be performed involving routing the cables in trenchless technology under the beach, where the subsea cables pass through the coastal zone.

The cables will run along a cable bench through the area of the Choczewo Commune to two onshore transformer stations located near Osieki Lęborskie, which will feed the energy to the power station of the national transmission network operator.

Baltica 3 and Baltica 2 are expected to have a lifespan until 2056 and 2057, respectively.

Once operational, Baltica 2 will offset more than 5.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year, which is equivalent to emissions from around 3.6 million diesel cars. The wind farm will provide electricity to approximately 2.4 million homes of Poland.

Contractors involved

In July 2021, a consortium of Geoquip Marine and Mewo SA was selected by the joint venture of Ørsted and PGE for geotechnical surveys of the seabed regarding the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm.

Over 14,000km of 2D UHRS seismic data of the project had been reprocessed and delivered by seismic processing specialist RockWave.

A consortium of Ramboll Polska and Projmors Maritime Construction Design Office won the contract to prepare design documentation for foundations, turbines, internal cables and power stations at sea, as well as to obtain a building permit and subsequently prepare the technical design of the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm.

In April 2023, Siemens Gamesa secured the contract to deliver 107 14-MW wind turbines for Baltica 2 project.

In May 2023, a consortium made of Biuro Studiów, Projektów i Realizacji “Energoprojekt‐Katowice” and “Energopomiar” was appointed as the contract engineer to exercise investor’s supervision over the land connection for the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm.

PGE Group and Ørsted contracted a consortium of SEMCO Maritime and PTSC Mechanical & Construction for the design, manufacturing and commissioning of offshore power stations for the Baltica 2 in June 2023.

DNV supports PGE Baltica by providing consultancy on technical aspects in the negotiation process of the agreements.