Polish energy company ORLEN Group announced on Tuesday (6 October) that it has received Polish Minister of Infrastructure’s final decision to award licences for five new offshore wind farm development sites, marking the start of the project’s preparatory phase.
The company’s planned five offshore farms are said to have a capacity of around 5.2 gigawatts (GW) with an estimated generation capacity to power eight million households, ORLEN noted in a press release.
“The ORLEN Group is consolidating its position as a leader in the development of offshore wind farm projects in Poland. Leveraging our experience gained from the Baltic Power project, we are well-prepared to quickly and effectively initiate preparations for five additional offshore projects. Our operations are progressing as scheduled, even outpacing other investors who commenced offshore wind activities before us,” said Daniel Obajtek, ORLEN’s CEO and President of the Management Board.
Among the five licences awarded to the ORLEN Group, four are located on the Oder Bank near Kołobrzeg, while the fifth is located on the Słupsk Bank. The area adjoins the site of the Baltic Power wind farm, a joint project between ORLEN and Canadian energy company Northland Power, planned to be commissioned in 2026.
“We remain committed to launching the first wind farm in the Polish section of the Baltic Sea as per our initial plans. These subsequent projects are pivotal in bolstering Poland’s economic competitiveness and growth, centred on modern energy sources. Their successful execution will represent another stride towards enhancing Poland’s energy security and realising the ORLEN Group’s strategic ambition of achieving 9 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade,” Mr Obajtek added.
The initial phase of the project’s preparations is expected to include wind resource assessment, preliminary geotechnical surveys and environmental impact assessments, OLREN said in the press release.
