Wojciech Dąbrowski, President of the Management Board of Poland’s largest power producing company PGE emphasised the important role that offshore wind energy will play in Poland’s and the PGE Group’s energy transition, opening an international Politico discussion.
“By 2030, we want to commission 2.5 [gigawatts] GW of new offshore capacity,” he said. “Together with Ørsted, we have received approval from the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection to establish a joint venture, which will allow us to implement projects with a total capacity of up to 2.5 GW.”
The development of this sector will also be crucial in the recovery of the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic, as it will revive investment in the port industry, shipbuilding, but also in the back-end technical infrastructure for offshore wind farms. And, according to PGE, the prospects for financing these projects are encouraging.
“We are also currently observing a very favourable approach of financial institutions to financing offshore projects,” Mr Dąbrowski continued. “We can see their great willingness to get involved in this investment programme, which in the long run will contribute to Poland’s energy transition. We believe that the future EU regulatory environment will also support these investments.”
Nevertheless, further investment boosts and additional financial support are needed, for example, through measures in the Polish National Recovery Plan currently under consultation.
As President of PGE Wojciech Dąbrowski pointed out, the success of the EU offshore strategy will depend primarily on the deep cooperation of all market participants and their commitment to developing the most optimal solutions.
“The development of offshore wind energy is crucial for the whole energy sector in the European Union,” he underlined. “European economies are setting their ambitious climate targets. However, in order to meet them, it is crucial to involve all stakeholders in cooperation and dialogue at the earliest possible stage, especially offshore wind farm developers, who ultimately bear the greatest investment and financial risk.”
In the framework of the draft revision of the Directive on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (REDII) that is currently being prepared, but also in the framework of the new draft regulation on Trans-European Networks for Energy (TEN-E), the European Commission will propose streamlining the process of obtaining the necessary permits for offshore wind plants.
The Minister of Climate and Environment Michał Kurtyka highlighted Poland’s achievements in reducing emissions to date and its future plans resulting from the adopted Energy Policy of Poland until 2040. The development of offshore wind energy, regulated in the new act, is a strategic goal for the Polish economy, industry and the construction of a new energy system model with an increasing share of RES.
Photo: PGE Group’s Twitter account.
