Poland’s Orlen secures environmental decision for second offshore wind farm in Baltic

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Polish state energy giant Orlen has secured an environmental decision for a second offshore wind farm, Baltic East. The decision paves the way for the project to compete in Poland’s first auction for offshore wind power production next month, helping ensure that the auction results in a valid outcome.

Baltic East is expected to start operating in 2032 with a capacity of 1 gigawatt (GW) and, according to Orlen, could supply clean electricity to more than 1.25 million households.

It will be located around 22.5 km off Poland’s Baltic coast, adjacent to Orlen’s 1.2 GW Baltic Power project – Poland’s first offshore wind farm – which is already under construction and due to come online next year.

Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fąfara described the decision, which was issued by the Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Gdańsk (RDOŚ) and outlines conditions for installing turbines, foundations, offshore substations and inter-array cables, as “a key milestone” that opens the way for the project to enter December’s auction.

Poland, which does not yet have any operational offshore wind capacity, plans to award up to 4 GW in the tender on 17 December. Successful bidders will receive contracts for difference (CfDs), guaranteeing a fixed price for electricity generated.

When market prices fall below the agreed reference price, the state covers the shortfall. If market prices are higher than the reference price, the surplus is paid back to the state.

As well as Baltic East, the other projects expected to compete in the auction are Polenergia/Equinor’s Bałtyk 1 (with a capacity of around 1.56 GW) and the PGE Group’s Baltica 1 (around 0.9 GW), reports industry news service WNP.

The participation of Baltic East is seen as vital to the success of the auction. If there were only two bidders, the result would not be valid, Karol Lasocki, a partner at the DWF Poland law firm, told WNP.

The auction itself is also seen by analysts as a key milestone for offshore wind in Poland, helping gauge the viability of future projects.

The Baltic East project is one of six offshore licences held by Orlen. The company aims to complete all of its offshore developments by 2040, in line with national efforts to bolster energy security and expand low-carbon power generation.

Poland generated the majority of its electricity, almost 57%, from coal last year, by far the highest level in Europe. However, that figure has been dropping amid a growth in renewables, which accounted for 29% of the energy mix in 2024. In April this year, coal’s share fell below 50% for the first time.

The Polish Wind Energy Association estimates the country has up to 33 GW of offshore wind potential in the Baltic Sea. If fully developed, this could meet as much as 57% of national electricity demand, the group said in a report last year.

Poland is also working to build its first nuclear power stations as well as to deploy so-called small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). In August, Orlen announced that it had reached an agreement to build the country’s first SMR.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: lange x/Pexels 

Alicja Ptak

Alicja Ptak is senior editor at Notes from Poland and a multimedia journalist. She previously worked for Reuters.