The offshore wind energy industry will be one of the main beneficiaries of the release of money from the National Reconstruction Plan. In February, the Ministry of State Assets presented the conditions for financial support for this type of projects from KPO funds as part of the REPowerEU G3.1.5 investment, which established the Offshore Wind Energy Fund with a budget of EUR 4.785 billion. At the same time, the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy prepared a draft of legislative changes enabling the payment of loans for the construction of offshore wind farms from KPO funds.
The government counts on high local content
The Ministry of Climate and Environment assures us that the government is interested in “the efficient and rapid development of the offshore wind energy sector together with the entire local supply chain of materials and services, taking into account the use of Polish maritime areas also for other purposes, such as nature protection, fishing, transport, or national defense and security.”
The ministry ensures that it works to ensure the greatest possible participation of Polish companies, universities and research institutes in the value chain in the offshore wind energy sector. – The platform supporting our domestic suppliers of materials and services is Sectoral agreement for the development of offshore wind energy in Poland, whose purpose is, among others, maximizing the participation of Polish entrepreneurs in the offshore wind energy sector. Due to the fact that the Agreement brings together many different environments related to the offshore wind industry, suppliers of materials and services know what investors' expectations are and what is in demand – says the ministry in its responses.
PGE is counting on the Polish port
Polska Grupa Energetyczna wants to implement the largest investments in the Baltic Sea (approx. 2.5 GW). Its daughter company PGE Baltica and its Danish partner Ørsted declare that their goal is to achieve the highest possible participation rate of Polish companies in the first phase projects. – The number of Polish entities involved in the project is already growing. From the research work necessary at the initial stage of the project, through the preparation of the construction design and obtaining construction permits, the selection of the general contractor for the onshore connection infrastructure (where one of the consortium members is a Polish company) and the contract engineer, up to the tender for the execution of directional drilling for the needs of laying export cables to land. This work will be performed by a consortium of Polish companies specializing in trenchless drilling – the companies say in response to our questions.
PGE and Ørsted mention that, additionally, in the construction of the service base in Ustka – as a result of the tender results – so far only Polish entities have been involved: from the stage of conducting research work, through the preparation of documentation and construction design, to the demolition of old buildings, on the site of which base facilities will be created.
– A very important element to increase the level of local content is the possibility of building a project using a Polish port, so it is important that these ports are ready in time for the first phase projects. We are also constantly observing the interest of Polish entities wanting to join the supply chain for the project implemented by PGE and Ørsted. This is evidenced by a very large turnout at subsequent events we organize addressed to potential partners, the so-called Supplier Days – we read in the answers.
However, the companies stipulate that the full level of participation in the so-called The local content in the construction of the project will be known after the offshore wind farm is put into operation, because this share will depend, among others, on: on the results of tender procedures and the participation of Polish companies in them. Also in the exploitation phase, there is space for further use of local content (e.g. service, auxiliary and research works).
Orlen: local content at the level of 20-30 percent
Orlen states in answers to Forsal.pl's questions that reaching the final investment decision in September 2023 means that its Baltic Power offshore wind farm project (target capacity of 1.2 GW) has final agreements with main contractors and suppliers that secure the entire supply chain – production, transport and installation of all key components of the farm. – Among them are the world's most experienced suppliers from the offshore wind sector (including Vestas, Cadeler, Bladt, Steel Wind, Van Oord, GE, DEME), including companies from Poland at the Tier 1 level (Enprom, Telefonika Kable) and other Polish companies providing services for the project, such as Erbud, MEWO, Antea, and companies that are subcontractors of T1 suppliers – says the company. The investment over the entire 25-30-year life cycle of the farm assumes achieving a local content level of 20 to 30 percent. investment value, in accordance with the assumptions of the sector agreement.
Moreover, among others thanks to cooperation on the Baltic Power project, in January this year. Vestas announced the construction of a second factory in Szczecin, producing blades for offshore wind turbines. According to plans, it will start operating in 2026, creating over 1,000 jobs.
Ocean Winds focuses on education
Ocean Winds, a joint company of energy concerns EDP and Engie, wants to build a wind farm with a capacity of 399 MW in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea. The company states in its answers to a question from Forsal.pl that investors and companies from the supply chain for offshore wind farms are cooperating with the government on a method for calculating the share of Polish companies in deliveries for offshore wind farms. – Our activity covers almost half of the existing contracts with Polish enterprises, which not only supports the local economy, but also strengthens the technical competences of companies to service the offshore wind farm sector – the company says in its responses.
– As Ocean Winds, we have defined local content in three dimensions by engaging Polish companies as suppliers to support the local economy. We also promote Polish companies internationally in our other projects. Additionally, we focus on educating future employees by implementing educational programs in primary and secondary schools. We also support the competences of specialists in the field of offshore wind – the BC-Wind project currently employs over 50 locally employed employees – replies the company.
“Ambitious plans” of RWE
In turn, the German concern RWE, which wants to build the Baltic II farm with a capacity of 350 MW in the Baltic Sea, tells Forsal.pl that in the document Material and Service Chain Plan for the Baltic II Offshore Wind Farm submitted by RWE to the Energy Regulatory Office in 2020, the company adopted ambitious plans related to achieving local content in the FEW Baltic II project. – RWE is committed to cooperation with the Polish national and local supply chain and is working to fulfill the commitment regarding a specific level of local participation – says the company in response to our question.
