Equinor has set the seal on the acquisition of a 50% interest in Poland’s up-to-1.56GW Bałtyk 1 offshore wind development from utility Polenergia, giving the Norwegian energy giant a stake in all three Bałtyk projects in the Baltic Sea.

“The acquisition of Baltyk 1 strengthens our presence in the Baltic Sea area. With interest in all three – Baltyk 1, 2 and 3 – projects, we have the opportunity to build scale and value in what we see as an important energy region,” said Equinor New Energy Solutions senior vice president for business development Jens Økland.

Equinor will manage ‘construction preparation’ for Bałtyk 1, located in water depths of 25-35 meters some 80km from the port of Łeba, as well as construction and operational phases of the project.

The developer originally announced the deal for the Bałtyk 1 project last December, adding to its shares in Bałtyk II and III, which have a combined planned capacity of 1.44GW.

The trio wind farms, which will be developed under a 50:50 joint venture with Polenergia, could ultimately power more than 4 million Polish households.

“Poland is an important market for Equinor and we are pleased to continue our partnership with Polenergia, which is an experienced energy company with an in-depth knowledge of the Polish energy market,” said Økland.

There has been concern Warsaw's ambitious plans to bring online over 10GW of offshore wind by 2040 – as outlined in a first draft of its long-term energy plan announced in 2018 – are in danger of being scaled back after the country's outgoing energy minister circulated a revised version that lowers the target to 8GW.

But Equinor said Poland’s recent progress in formalising legislation to develop its offshore wind resource in the Baltic via “clearly defined targets for offshore wind [and] a robust and predictable framework … set the right incentives and a streamlined permitting process” continued to be a boost to advancing the sector in Poland and the potential of a local supply chain.

This view is shared by other key offshore wind developers including Danish pace-setter Ørsted, which in October entered talks to buy half of the 2.5GW Elektrownia Wiatrowa Baltica 2&3 arrays from state-owned utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna (PGE), and Germany’s RWE, which in the same month leapt into market with the acquisition of four projects totalling 1.5GW in Slupsk Bank area off Poland’s that could enter construction as early as 2023.

PGE in September agreed with compatriot oil refiner PKN Orlen to cooperate in the development of their combined 3.7GW offshore wind portfolio.

Industry advocacy body WindEurope estimates Poland’s offshore wind potential through to 2050 at some 28GW.

Last month the organisation released a landmark report that outlined how offshore wind power could carry Europe to carbon-neutrality by mid-century, expanding to an installed base of 450GW and meeting 30% of the continent’s power demand.

Wind

Equinor sets seal on multi-gigawatt Polish offshore wind plans