At the request of Baltica 1 Wind Power Plant, a PGE Capital Group company, Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne S.A., Poland's transmission system operator, has issued requirements for connecting the 896 MW offshore wind farm to the national power grid. This is another stage in the offshore wind farms project being carried out by PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.
The technical power grid connection requirements specify, among other things, connection capacity, expenditures on the development of the transmission infrastructure to be incurred by both PGE and PSE in order to ensure the connection and evacuation of power from the planned offshore wind farm, and the necessary scope of arrangements for these investment projects with the President of the Energy Regulatory Office.
Located about 80 km from the coast, more or less opposite the town of Łeba in the Pomorskie province, the Baltica 1 offshore wind farm is the third concession area currently owned by PGE. Besides the technical power grid connection requirements, Baltica 1 is already in possession of a location permit allowing for the construction of artificial islands and determining the location area of the wind farm in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.
Obtaining the technical power grid connection requirements for the Baltica 1 wind farm constitutes for PGE an important step in the execution of this investment project. As an integral part of the national power system, PGE develops in the green direction and invests in renewable energy sources. Investments in offshore wind farms are of key importance for the energy transition as well as the economic transformation of our country, says Wojciech Dąbrowski, President of the Management Board of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.
The company is working on a project plan detailing schedule and budget guidelines, which will allow it to move to the next step, which is entering into a connection agreement with PSE, and subsequently conducting environmental studies and applying for a decision on environmental conditions. The preliminary plan provides for the commissioning of Baltica 1 after 2030.
The Offshore Programme in the PGE Capital Group includes the construction of three wind farms:
- Baltica-1 Wind Power Plant with a capacity of up to 896 MW – connection requirements and an artificial island location permit have been issued;
- Baltica-2 Wind Power Plant, with a capacity of up to 1498 MW – grid connection requirements were issued in January 2019; an artificial island location permit has been issued;
- Baltica-3 Wind Power Plant with a capacity of up to 1045 MW – a transmission grid connection agreement has been entered into with PSE.
In January 2020, the Regional Director of Environmental Protection in Gdańsk issued a decision on environmental conditions for the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 wind power plants, with a combined capacity of up to 2500 MW.
In February 2020, a two-year wind measurements study conducted in the Baltic Sea was completed. The speed of air masses moving across the sea was measured by means of LiDAR – a floating laser measurement device. The study provided PGE Baltica with high quality data confirming the existence of wind conditions necessary for the execution of the project.
The next stages of work aimed at obtaining a building permit for the Baltica 3 and Baltica 2 wind farms are seabed exploration and conceptual work on power evacuation, i.e. connecting the offshore wind farms to the onshore power grid.
The PGE Capital Group plans the construction of three offshore wind farms in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea (Baltica 3 and 2 – by 2030, Baltica 1 – after 2030). The maximum combined capacity of the wind farms will reach approximately 3500 MW (3.5 GW), which will guarantee PGE the leading position in Poland's offshore sector.
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