Hogan Lovell OffshoreBook 2023 230809 OnlinePDF - Flipbook - Page 193
Offshore Wind Worldwide 2023
1. STATE AND FUTURE OF
OFFSHORE WIND PROJECTS
1.1 Current state of offshore wind
development and projects
New RES targets set proposed by the
European Commission1, the armed conflict
in Ukraine and, as a result, the intensively
growing need for energy security and independence from Russian energy resources,
the increasing prices for CO2 emissions, growing climate change awareness, outdated
coal-based energy power stations, and the
need for greater diversification and energy
security for the country. This is the reality
that Poland - a traditionally and naturally
coal-based country – needs to face. And this
is the reason why a significant technological transformation is speeding up in recent
years.
The Polish government continues to consider offshore wind power as one of the key
renewable energy resources that will allow
the country to achieve its EU RES share
goals, as well as constituting a viable replacement for the coal-based power stations
that are now in the process of being decommissioned. Offshore wind was included in
the Polish Energy Policy 2040 (PEP 2040)2 as
a strategic direction for the development of
the Polish energy sector.
No offshore projects has, as yet, been
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constructed, but key Polish energy companies (subsequently supported by major
European and global offshore wind companies) have already entered the game or
have shown an increased interest. The first
OWF should be completed by 2025 – 2026,
and by 2040 offshore wind will account for
the largest quantity of energy produced by
renewable energy sources in Poland.
The most advanced project is the OWF of
PKN Orlen (a state-owned fuel and energy
company), acting through its subsidiary
Baltic Power. 3 It has a location permit and
has requested an amendment to its environmental decision for an OWF, with a total
capacity of 1,200 MW. In January 2021, PKN
Orlen entered into a cooperation agreement
with Northland Power. At the beginning of
2023, Baltic Power obtained the first required building permits for the onshore part of
the project.
Also advanced projects are those of Polenergia (the largest Polish private, vertically
integrated energy group), implemented
within a 50/50 joint venture with Equinor.
Polenergia is the first entity which obtained
environmental decisions for two OWFs:
Bałtyk II 4 (March 2017), and Bałtyk III 5 (July
2016 changed in 2022), each with a total
capacity of up to 720 MW. The third project,
Bałtyk I,6 will have a total capacity of up to
1,560 MW.
1
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_2061
2
The Polish Energy Policy 2040, available at https://www.gov.pl/web/klimat/polityka-energetyczna-polski (also in English).
3
https://www.balticpower.pl/en/
4
https://www.baltyk2.pl/en
5
https://www.baltyk3.pl/en
6
https://www.mfwbaltyk1.pl/en
