The companies Windar Renovables and PORR have signed a contract for construction of a factory, which will produce towers, masts and foundations for wind turbines in the port of Szczecin. The project is scheduled to be completed in one and a half years, the contractor announced on Thursday.

The complex, which is to serve the development of offshore wind energy, will be built on the island of Ostrów Grabowski, on a 17-hectare plot in the port area. The investor is the Spanish Windar Renovables, and the project was prepared by the subsidiary company Windar Polska. The factory will be built by PORR - a company belonging to the Austrian construction group.

The signing of the contract was confirmed to PAP (Polish Press Agency) on Thursday by the PORR press office. "The demand for alternative energy sources in Europe is huge and is constantly growing. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the appropriate infrastructure. We are proud that we can contribute to this by building a factory in Szczecin," emphasized Karl-Heinz Strauss, CEO of PORR, in a statement.

The company announced that it has 18 months to complete the project. It was explained that the most important part of the "huge factory" will be a building with four wind tower production lines with a total area of over 47,000 square meters. It will also house a raw material warehouse. A smaller auxiliary building is planned next to it, and over 3 hectares will be occupied by storage yards. The project also includes access roads and a parking lot for 100 cars. The factory is to be built in the area of the Dębicki Canal so that the wind turbine components manufactured there can be transported by water. The plant is to eventually employ over 400 people, as Windar previously reported. The value of the Spanish investment in Ostrów Grabowski in Szczecin is EUR 70 million.

The PORR press release reminded that this company is responsible for the "hydrotechnical construction of the installation part of the terminal for servicing Polish wind farms in the Baltic Sea", which is planned to be launched in Świnoujście in 2025. The investment is being carried out jointly by Orlen Neptun and the Szczecin and Świnoujście Seaports Authority. The West Pomeranian Voivodeship is a national leader in green energy production and a strong centre for the offshore industry. Danish Vestas is building two factories in Szczecin. In the north of the city (Skolwin) wind turbine blades will be manufactured from 2026, and next year in Ostrów Brdowski (an island on the Oder), a plant where turbine nacelles will be assembled is to be launched.

tma/ pad/