"The new location complements the area designated for the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm, which will be the largest power plant currently under construction in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea. It is adjacent to the area where Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 of total 2.5 GW will be built.
"The development of the new seabed area will allow for synergy effects and will guarantee us the maximization of the use of this part of the Baltic Sea, and ultimately will ensure an increase in the production of green electricity," said Wojciech Dąbrowski, President of the Management Board of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.
"Offshore wind energy is a developed technology that enables the construction of large-scale wind farms. The capacity of the largest currently operating unit is over 1.2 GW. In this context, Baltica 2+ - as we jointly named the project in the new area - is small, but very important. Its location conditions show many potential technical synergies with the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm currently under development by JV partners," Agata Staniewska-Bolesta, Managing Director of Ørsted Offshore Poland.
PGE and Ørsted plan to develop up to 210 MW of generation capacity in the 45.E.1. area. The project was tentatively named Baltica 2+. The seabed area is about 17 sq. km and is located about 32 km from the shore. The permit was applied for jointly by PGE and Ørsted which create a joint-venture.
In related news, the European Investment Bank (EIB) approved the in-principle financing of the Baltica OWF project. The total financing package amounts to EUR 1.4 billion. This is a significant step towards ensuring an optimal financing structure that will enable the construction of PGE's first offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.
The project will consist of several stages - for each of the stages of the Baltica OWF – stages Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 – there is one tranche to be disbursed in the Project Finance formula in the amount of up to EUR 350 million, and one tranche to be disbursed based on guarantees from financial institutions, banks or export credit agencies.
Accelerating the energy transformation is a priority, which is why the EIB Group and the European Commission established the REPowerEU initiative. This aims to make the European Union independent of Russian energy resources and move the EU energy sector towards renewable energy. The Baltica Offshore Wind Farm project meets these goals.
