PGE, Enea and TAURON are planning a joint effort to build more offshore wind farms

Poland’s three largest power companies have signed a letter of intent on cooperation in future offshore wind farm projects. The companies recognize the value of the offshore wind energy sector in ensuring growth for the Polish economy and improving Poland’s energy security.

“The construction of offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea is a project of enormous significance for the Polish economy. It is not only a step towards the transformation of Poland’s power sector into a low-carbon industry, but one that, above all, generates benefits stemming from the stimulation of growth, increasing the degree of innovation and tapping into the potential of Polish companies. This is of major significance especially in the context of the need to put the country’s economy back on the path of growth, which it diverged from due to the pandemic. In parallel, a matter of key importance is to ensure the participation in this project of hundreds of Polish companies, which may act as suppliers and subcontractors within the supply chain,” accentuates Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin.

The Minister of State Assets emphasizes that the document signed by PGE, Enea and Tauron means that the State Treasury-owned utilities will now team up to make the best use of the opportunity created for them by the development of offshore wind energy.

“Cooperation rather than competition is extremely important in this situation,” he adds.

In the letter of intent, PGE, Enea and TAURON expressed their desire to establish a strategic alliance to execute future investment projects in offshore wind energy, to be located within the boundaries of the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone in the Baltic Sea. The incentive to establish this cooperation came from the prospect of generating synergies by engaging in joint undertakings in the offshore energy sector.

“Among Polish enterprises with a significant shareholding of the State Treasury, PGE is the leader in the development of offshore wind energy in Poland and is in possession of the most comprehensive expertise on the execution of such projects. Owing to the signing of the letter of intent, we, along with Tauron and Enea, may improve our chances in the process of applying for location permits for offshore wind farms and boost the likelihood of obtaining funds for the development of investment projects in the offshore wind energy sector in the Baltic Sea. The development of offshore wind projects will also provide an enormous investment momentum for the whole Polish economy and Polish businesses. The letter of intent we signed today is the first step towards the founding of a special purpose vehicle by PGE, Enea and Tauron, whose line of business will be focused on the development of offshore wind energy projects,” says Wojciech Dąbrowski, President of the PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna Management Board.

“Tapping into the energy generation potential of the Baltic Sea requires the establishment of an efficient financing mechanism, the relentless pursuit of shared objectives by Polish companies and the possession of specialized competences. The document signed today will bear fruit in the form of synergies in the development of Polish offshore wind capacity,” explains Wojciech Ignacok, President of the TAURON Polska Energia Management Board. “Energy generation from wind sources in the Baltic Sea also plays an important role in our plans to develop green capacity beyond 2025,” he adds.

The involvement in a concerted effort by the three companies was prompted, among other factors, by strong competition from third parties involved in the execution of offshore wind energy projects within the boundaries of the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone in the Baltic Sea.

“Offshore energy generation from wind sources plays a tremendously important role in the Enea Group’s growth plans. Today’s formal establishment of cooperation between the three companies will enable us to become much more competitive on the demanding offshore market, which will in turn significantly accelerate and solidify our involvement in this business segment,” says Paweł Szczeszek, President of the Enea Management Board.

By 2030, the capacity of PGE’s offshore wind farms will reach 2.5 GW. In 2040, in line with the objectives laid down in the New Strategy of the PGE Group, the company will own offshore wind farms with a capacity of 6.5 GW. At the same time, according to government predictions, the total capacity of offshore wind farms in the Polish zone of the Baltic Sea will be 8-11 GW.

PGE is currently in the process of selecting an industry partner for the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 wind projects with a total capacity of 2.5 GW. The newly signed letter of intent will not affect this process or the development of offshore wind farm projects in collaboration with the industry partner currently being selected, as it will be necessary to obtain separate location permits for these projects.

TAURON is unwaveringly pursuing its energy transformation objectives. TAURON’s Green Turn calls for increasing the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the generation mix to over 65 percent by 2030, while cutting CO₂ emissions by half. By 2025, TAURON intends to have more than 1,000 MW of installed capacity in onshore wind turbines and 300 MW in photovoltaic farms. Wind farms in the Baltic Sea are intended to play a key role in the Group’s transformation process beyond 2025.

The Enea Group, as a leading player on the energy market in Poland, intends to be actively involved in the development of the renewable energy sector, including offshore wind farms. The execution of offshore wind projects in the Baltic Sea is fully consistent with these objectives and will exert a major impact on the pursuit of the strategic goal involving an ambitious transformation in the energy generation sector towards low and zero emissions.