Polish energy firm Polenergia has this week been given the green light by the Gdańsk regional environmental protection authority to develop a second 600MW offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea.
The legally-binding decision setting out the environmental requirements for the Polenergia Baltic Sea II (Polenergia Bałtyk II) project comes after the firm secured approval for the sister 600MW project Polenergia Baltic Sea III project last August, bringing total expected capacity for the wind farms to 1.2GW.
Located north of the coastline cities of Smoldzino and Leba in the Pomorskie region, the wind farms are set to be the largest ever built in Poland, Polenergia said.
Each wind tower will be a maximum of 300 metres in height and 250 metres in diameter with a generating capacity of 8-10MW.
Once the construction permits are granted, work on the wind farms is scheduled to begin in 2019, with the Baltic Sea III project set to come online in 2021-2022, before the Baltic Sea II project begins generating electricity in 2026.
Both projects have a 25 year lifespan, but after 2025 the company also expects to be able to acquire additional capacity that could potentially see both wind farm projects double in capacity to a maximum of 1.2GW, delivering up to 2.4GW in total.
By 2030, the company believes the two wind projects will have created 77,000 new direct and indirect jobs and deliver a PLN 60bn (£12bn) boost to the Polish economy.
“Polenergia Baltic Sea II and Polenergia Baltic Sea III Offshore Wind Farms are a strategic investment that will allow not only the company but, above all, the Polish economy to become the leader in this kind of venture,” said Jacek Głowacki, project director on Polenergia’s management board.
Source: businessgreen.com
