Polish oil refiner Orlen SA (WSE:PKN) said Friday its supervisory board has made a conditional investment decision for the up-to-1.2-GW Baltic Power offshore wind farm project in the Polish Baltic Sea.
This decision will enable completion of the design phase of the project, the company added. The construction phase is expected to start later in 2023.
Securing construction permits for the offshore part of the project remains a condition for reaching a final investment decision.
Orlen is developing Baltic Power, said to be the most advanced offshore wind project in Poland, in partnership with Canada’s Northland Power (TSE:NPI). Expected to be completed in 2026, the wind farm will have 76 turbines of 15 MW each.
Danish wind turbine maker Vestas Wind Systems A/S (CPH:VWS) simultaneously announced today a conditional agreement to deliver the turbines for the project. This comes almost a year after Vestas was selected as the preferred turbine supplier.
The Baltic Power project is set to be financed under the project finance model. The total financing is estimated at EUR 4.73 billion (USD 5.2bn), including capital costs and contingency of EUR 4.05 billion, as well as financing costs and additional reserve, Orlen said.
Baltic Power is a key project in Orlen’s plan to reach 9 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.
(EUR 1 = USD 1.102)
