PKN ORLEN actively participates in the implementation of Poland’s energy policy. The company has entered into a strategic partnership with the US company GE Renewable Energy, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of turbines for offshore wind farms. The signed MoU aims to strengthen the competitiveness of PKN ORLEN by seeking new concessions for wind farms in the Polish Baltic Sea Economic Zone. Business cooperation is the next step in implementing the ORLEN2030 strategy, assuming the concern will reach emissions neutrality in 2050.

Offshore wind is one of the pillars of PKN ORLEN’s green transformation. Until 2030, the company plans to invest in renewable energy sources, including offshore wind, PLN 47 billion.

“By implementing the ORLEN2030 strategy, which involves considerable growth in capacities from renewable energy sources, we will strengthen our position as a leader in energy transformation in Central Europe. This will be possible in large part thanks to investments in offshore wind and the parallel expansion of our RES portfolio with additional capacities installed, among others, in onshore wind power plants. The agreement we signed with GE Renewable Energy supports the implementation of these ambitious goals. We are confident that our cooperation and joint involvement in the development of the Polish offshore wind energy sector will ensure that a significant part of the growing offshore wind energy market will become the object of Polish capital in the next concession procedures for new farms “, declares – declares Daniel Obajtek, Chairman of the Management Board of PKN ORLEN.

According to the assumptions of PEP2040, by 2030 in the waters of the Baltic Sea, under the so-called In the first phase, wind farms with a total capacity of 5.9 GW will be built. The document predicts that by 2040 the production capacity of wind farms located in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea will reach 9-11 GW of capacity. This will be possible, among other things, thanks to the next concession procedure, under which there are 11 locations for the farms to be allocated, with a total area of ​​2,342 km2, indicated in the development plan for Polish maritime areas. . PKN ORLEN currently has a license with a capacity of up to 1.2 GW, under which the Baltic Power project is implemented. In the next concession process, the company plans to acquire new locations, using its own knowledge and experience and that of GE Renewable Energy.

The strategic partnership between PKN ORLEN and GE Renewable Energy will support the development of the Polish offshore sector. Through this partnership, GE Renewable Energy would aim to create jobs to support the potential expansion of the Polish supply chain supporting the entire offshore wind industry.

GE Renewable Energy will work with PKN ORLEN to strengthen cooperation to improve its industrial capabilities in Poland and its competitiveness to compete for new offshore wind leases in Poland.

GE Renewable Energy Jérôme Pécresse, Senior Vice President, GE & CEO, GE Renewable Energy, said: “Poland is well positioned to use offshore wind resources to accelerate the energy transition. The agreement we are signing today paves the way for pragmatic measures that can take full advantage of offshore wind resources to create win-win results in terms of the environment and economic development. “

The construction of an offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea is one of the key development projects of PKN ORLEN in line with the ORLEN2030 strategy. The offshore wind development works are carried out by the company through its company SPV Baltic Power, which has a concession for the construction of wind farms with a maximum total capacity of 1.2 GW. The project is implemented in partnership with the Canadian company Northland Power. The investment area, with a total area of ​​approximately 131 km2, is located approximately 23 km north of the Baltic Sea coast, at the height of Choczewo and Leba. Its construction should start in 2023 and be completed in 2026.

PKN ORLEN also invests in onshore wind farms. In February of this year, it bought the Kanin wind farm with a capacity of 20 MW from two foreign investment funds, located in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship. In turn, in March, the company bought from the Spanish investment fund three more onshore wind farms located in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. These are the Kobylnica (41.4 MW), Subkowy (8 MW) and Nowotna (40 MW) projects.