The region is also seeing growth in offshore wind investments in other cities as developers and their main suppliers prepare for building and operating offshore wind farms in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.
In Łeba and Ustka alone, several developers now plan to establish operations and maintenance (O&M) bases for their projects.
Last year, Baltic Power, the joint venture between PKN Orlen and Canadian Northland Power, signed a deal to lease a site in the Port of Łeba to build an O&M base that will serve the 1.2 GW Baltic Power offshore wind farm. In 2021, Equinor acquired a site at the port to serve as the O&M base for the Polish offshore wind projects the company is developing together with Polenergia.
PGE Baltica and RWE will base their O&M facilities in Ustka. PGE Group plans to build an operations and maintenance centre for its future offshore wind projects, as well as a competence centre , there. RWE has selected Ustka for its 350 MW F.E.W. Baltic II offshore wind farm, and also sees it as supporting further projects the company has planned in Poland.
The new report from Invest in Pomerania expects further growth of the offshore wind industry and investments in the region as both global and Polish offshore wind development continue to roll out and grow further.
With the first wind farms to be built at the shoal area near Słupsk and further projects to be built out after that, the national industry will gain a foothold that will support Polish targets.
The report states that the Fit For 55 package of legislative changes positively stimulates the potential of Polish offshore wind capacity, which is estimated at 5.9 GW by 2030 and 11 GW by 2040, and that the market is waiting for the regulators’ next steps on which further development of the sector will depend.
Local companies can make up for half of the content in the construction and operation stage of the first phase of offshore wind projects in Poland, according to estimates by the Ministry of Development.
“From investors’ point of view, the development of offshore wind projects on the Polish coast of the Baltic Sea depends on the predictability and stability of the regulatory environment. At the same time, the efficient implementation of these projects will increase the chances of including domestic companies in the global supply chain” , the report cites Michał Kołodziejczyk , CEO at Equinor Polska, as saying.
Furthermore, the report’s look into shipbuilding and the maritime sector has identified, among other things, Pomerania’s strong position to produce low-emission and specialised vessels for offshore wind.
The local ship design industry has pointed out to Invest in Pomerania that European shipbuilding projects, unlike those built in East Asia, are characterised by a high degree of complexity and specialisation of the vessels, including autonomous and low-emission solutions and specialised vessels such as those specially built for the construction or servicing of offshore wind farms.
The report here highlighted that, in this regard, Pomeranian design and engineering offices already operate in the market niche of specialist vessels.
“The development of the offshore wind energy sector determines specific needs in terms of specialized vessels and offshore structures. There are many indications that they may become the specialization of Pomeranian design and engineering offices”.
Looking at support for offshore wind development and the industry in Pomerania, the region has its own initiative, the Pomeranian Offshore Wind Energy Platform, established by the local government of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. The initiative aims to coordinate activities around offshore wind projects in Poland to create a strong offshore wind industry hub in Pomerania and gathers 118 entities, including developers, suppliers of offshore wind farm components and services, research, academic, training and business environment institutions.
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