Largest Offshore Wind Farm in the Baltic Sea Progresses Towards Auction

Construction of Poland’s largest offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea is progressing as Equinor and the Polish utility company Polenergia have submitted an application for environmental approval for the connection infrastructure of the Baltyk I offshore wind project. This project is considered the largest and most advanced offshore wind project in the Baltic Sea, following the earlier developments of Baltyk II and Baltyk III. The developers are looking ahead to the planned auction for Baltyk I in 2025.

Equinor and Polenergia are jointly developing these three projects, which will have a combined capacity of up to 3 GW, providing green energy to about 4 million Polish households. Baltyk I, the largest of the wind farm projects, has a capacity of up to 1560 MW and is located approximately 50 miles from the coastline near the Leba Municipality.

The electricity generated by the wind farm will be transported ashore via cables to the Polish Power Grid Krzemienica substation, which is currently under construction in the Redzikowo municipality.

CEO of Polenergia, Jerzy Zan, stated that having a common corridor section for the cables from all three Baltyk projects will streamline the investment process, making it more efficient and cost-effective. The construction of Baltyk I will benefit from the experiences gained during the construction of Baltyk II and Baltyk III.

Due to the total distance involved, the developers have opted to utilize direct current (HVDC) technology, similar to what was used at the Dogger Bank offshore wind farm in the UK – the largest of its kind in the world. The first power from Dogger Bank was successfully integrated into the grid last year, demonstrating the effectiveness of this technology for offshore wind projects.