Poland’s state-owned oil and gas giant PKN Orlenannounced that it is looking into the feasibility of a 1,200 MW wind farm in the Baltic Sea.
"PKN Orlen Group company Baltic Power is about to commence surveys to assess the environmental impacts and wind conditions within its off-shore wind farm licence area in the Baltic Sea," the energy company with major operations in Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, and the Baltic States said.
To that end, an agreement was signed with a consortium comprising MEWO S.A. and the Maritime Institute of Gdańsk, with a view to obtaining an environmental permit for the project and determining the production potential of the planned off-shore wind farm.
Renewable energy sources will continue to gain prominence, and we cannot afford to miss out on this opportunity for sustainable development. Therefore, we made low-emission energy generation a priority in our updated strategy.
"The agreement to conduct environmental and wind surveys is another step in our preparations for the construction of an off-shore wind project in the Baltic Sea," says Daniel Obajtek, President of the PKN Orlen Management Board.
Already in May 2018 PKN Orlen assembled a team of specialists to prepare and implement a project to develop a concept design for an off-shore wind farm to be built in the Baltic Sea. The project’s total capacity may reach as much as 1,200 MW.
Preparations for the construction of off-shore wind farms are among PKN Orlen’s strategic development directions for the coming years. The company is Poland’s fourth-largest electricity producer and its assets, including the two CCGT units in Płock and Włocławek, would be a good backup power source for the wind farms in case of power shortages.