On Wednesday, July 3, a meeting of the Senate Climate and Environment Committee dedicated to assessing the functioning of the Offshore Act was held, attended by representatives of PWEA and Wind Industry Hub. During the meeting, Piotr Czopek presented postulates for regulatory changes developed jointly with the industry to enable the implementation of offshore wind projects from Phase I, as well as those necessary for Phase II and future investments. Time is of the essence, and the industry should do everything to ensure that the OWF auctions scheduled for next year take place as planned.
Maciej Bando, Undersecretary of State and Government Plenipotentiary for Strategic Energy Infrastructure, noted at the beginning of the meeting that the rapid development of offshore wind projects is essential for the Polish power system.
Subsequently, Łukasz Tomaszewski, Director of the Department of Renewable Energy Sources at the Ministry of the Environment , presented the legal framework for the operation of the offshore wind sector in Poland, including the assumptions of the Offshore Act and the 9 regulations to it, the UC99 Act with regard to the increased ambitions for offshore wind power up to 18GW and the planned auctions, as well as amendments to the energy law in the area of offshore wind. Director Tomaszewski also announced a refresh of the Sector Deal formula so as to more effectively guarantee the realization of the Polish component’s participation in offshore wind farm projects.
Moreover, Minister of State Assets Robert Kropiwnicki noted that expanding the supply chain for offshore wind farms is a priority, in order to build the competencies of domestic players, as well as to ensure that as much as possible of the assumed PLN 150-200 billion to be spent in the sector remains in Poland.
Later in the meeting, PSE CEO Grzegorz Onichimowski determined that over the next decade, demand for electricity in Poland could reach 237 TWh. The dynamic transformation scenario, according to PSE’s plans, assumes the adoption of up to 18GW of power from SHPP by 2040. The planned capital expenditure for the development of grid infrastructure is PLN 64 billion. The north-south DC line is at the “feasibility study” stage, where the price of energy will play a major role. In addition, PSE Vice President Włodzimierz Mucha presented PSE’s grid development plan for 18 GW from SHPP, which will be connected to 4 substations: Choczewo (readiness at the end of 2025; target is 6.3 GW), Słupsk (readiness at the end of 2026, target is about 2 GW), Krzemienica (target is 5.5 GW), station deriving power from Odrzańska Bank (target is 4.5 GW).
During a meeting of the Senate Climate and Environment Committee dedicated to assessing the functioning of the Offshore Act, PWEA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs and Vice President of WIH Piotr Czopek presented regulatory change proposals developed jointly with the industry, showing them broken down into those necessary for Phase I, as well as for Phase II and future investments. The complete set of proposals for changes to the sector law was forwarded to the Ministry of Climate and Environment, and after the meeting of the Senate Committee on Climate and Environment, also to the High Chamber.
– As an industry, we are aiming for a successful auction in 2025, so that a minimum of three valid bids are submitted. Timing is key here. So we should do everything in our power to prevent an investment gap in offshore wind energy in the future,” stressed Piotr Czopek.
Among the demands made by the PWEA and WIH representative and on behalf of the industry were:
- the possibility of starting the 2025 auction for entities already implementing projects under Phase I, which at the same time have more offshore wind connection capacity than already allocated in the support system;
- the possibility of dividing larger projects into smaller ones with separate power outlets, which could also be justified by the economics of the projects;
- The possibility of setting more than one price for offshore projects. The cost of connection depends on the distance from land, while the cost and quantity of materials used depends on the depth. Tailoring maximum prices for particular groups of investment areas (so-called “shoals”) could prove more relevant to investment realities
– However, if, despite the implementation of the industry’s proposed changes, the auction cannot be held in 2025, we advocate holding it in the first half of 2026 so as to avoid piling up projects over time. We also propose the introduction of shorter deadlines, from 30 to 45 days, for projects to obtain an environmental decision, preceding the date of implementation of the auction,” the WIH vice president added.
The floor was then taken by Janusz Bil, president of ORLEN Neptun, who confirmed that ORLEN CG’s planned date for introducing energy from the Baltic Power farm to the grid is January 2026. According to the president, we will be able to assess the functioning of the Offshore Act once all investors have started construction. Only the first project (worth €4.5 billion) is under construction. But the key, according to the CEO, today is to define the conditions for the auction in 2025. Investors need certainty now that the economics of the projects will justify the spending.
PGE Baltica CEO Bartosz Fedurek also assured that the Baltica 2 project is on schedule and is in the process of assembling financing. An FID (Final Investment Decision) will be taken in the second half of this year. According to the CEO, the most important thing is a stable, favorable investment environment that allows for development lasting 5-7 years, followed by construction 2-3 years and operation for 25 years. Fedurek also stressed that installation ports are in deficit in Europe, so we urgently need them in Poland as well. He discussed the stage of development of infrastructure investments in PGE CG, as well as the regulatory challenges created by the pandemic, the war in Europe and the global demand for offshore techonologies. In addition, additional requirements for securing infrastructure and cyber-security have caused the cost of projects to rise beyond inflation. According to the CEO of PGE Baltica, a startup lasting several months would require the sale of energy already during that startup, rather than after it is completed. In turn, the maximum price in the 2025 auction should reflect the global nature of the offshore industry to ensure the feasibility of the investment. He also pointed out that PGE is also the only developer in Poland that must operate under the PPL.
– It might be worth considering a dedicated statutorily defined purchasing formula to ensure that this entity is on a competitive playing field,? – indicated Bartosz Fedurek.
Senator Stanislaw Gawlowski, chairman of the session, opening the discussion, noted that he would like us to implement domestic projects involving Polish cables, trafostations, ships and service ports. In the context of these words, the president of the Baltic Industrial Group, Adam Kowalski, stressed that there is 70 years of industrial tradition behind companies such as Gdansk Shipyard and Energomontaż Północ Gdynia.
– I declare on behalf of GPB that we are ready to implement components for domestic OWF projects, and if some technology is not at our disposal, we will form appropriate consortia for their implementation, he said.