Poland’s government unveiled a long-awaited bill to underpin offshore wind development off its coast, as sector giants Orsted and RWE lay plans for possible projects in its waters.

The Polish energy minister Krzysztof Tchórzewski said the draft bill, which he hopes will go forward “within two to three weeks” for consultation and further legislative examination, “will significantly contribute to the future creation of a systemically formed offshore wind energy sector in Poland”.

The bill has been eagerly awaited by the fledgling sector in Poland and beyond, which hopes it will frame a support scheme for Baltic Sea wind development and the offshore grid connections needed.

Polish offshore wind has received two big boosts in the last few months as global sector heavyweights laid down markers for activity there.

First Orsted said it will enter talks to buy half of the 2.5GW Elektrownia Wiatrowa Baltica 2&3 arrays from state-owned utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE) that are among the furthest developed in Poland.

Soon after, RWE acquired a pipeline of development totaling some 1.5GW in potential, and said it plans to accelerate their development.

According to a draft for its long-term energy planning , the government counts on initial power from Baltic Sea wind farms to feed into the Polish grid in 2025, and foresees 10.3GW of Polish offshore wind capacity built by 2040.