Financing Cleared for Poland's Baltyk 2 & 3 Offshore Windfarms

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Norway's Equinor (Stavanger, Norway) and Polish energy major Polenergia (Warsaw, Poland) have committed to spending more than 7 billion euro (US$8 billion) to build two offshore windfarms in the Baltic Sea.

The 50:50 partners confirmed that they have reached financial close for the Baltyk 2 and Baltyk 3 projects. Located 22-37 kilometers off the Polish coast, the windfarms will have a total capacity of 1,440 megawatts (MW) - 720 MW each - and will be developed in parallel, largely within the same time schedule, consisting of 100 fixed bottom turbines. Along with the 1,560-MW Baltyk 1 windfarm, which is also in the works, they represent Poland's first steps into offshore wind and will, on completion, add 3 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy to the mix. The deal has been hailed as the largest project finance transaction in the history of Polish energy.

"We have done something extraordinary: we have closed financing provided by about 30 institutions, the largest players in the international capital environment, obtaining exceptionally good conditions in a market that has been demanding in recent months," said Adam Purwin, president of the management board of Polenergia. "We are starting the construction phase so that in three years clean energy from the most modern turbines will flow to Polish homes."

Equinor is responsible for the construction phase and will be the operator of the two offshore windfarms, which will be able to supply enough power for 2 million homes on commissioning in 2028. The company said that onshore construction work is ongoing, fabrication of key components has started, while marine operations will start next year. Industrial Info is tracking seven onshore and offshore projects associated with the development. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can click here for the reports. Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy (Zamudio, Spain) will supply 100 of its SG 14-236 DD wind turbines, Dutch firm Sif (Roermond, Netherlands) will build the foundations, and cabling will be handled by Hellenic Cables (Athens, Greece).

Today, Poland has no offshore wind, but its onshore wind power capacity is 9.3 GW, which supplied more than 13% of the country's power in 2023, according to the Poland Wind Energy Association. The country has ambitious targets for offshore wind and wants to have an installed capacity of 5.9 GW by 2030 and 18 GW by 2040. The potential within the Polish-owned section of the Baltic Sea is estimated at 33 GW. Equnor's senior vice president for renewables in Europe, Trine Borum Bojsen, said: "Building a profitable renewables business through safe execution and operations is key to delivering on Equinor's strategy. With financial close reached for Bałtyk 2 and Bałtyk 3, the last important milestone is passed ahead of full-scale construction. We appreciate the strong interest and support from lenders."

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