Baltic Power, a joint venture between Orlen and Canada’s Northland Power, has installed two 2500-tonne offshore substations for Poland’s first offshore wind farm, marking a key step towards delivering 1GW of clean energy from the Baltic Sea.
The two units, OSS West and OSS East, were installed about 20km off the coast near Choczewo and will collect power from 76 Vestas turbines, each rated at 15MW, before exporting it via subsea cables to an onshore substation in the Choczewo municipality.
Orlen president and chief executive Ireneusz Fąfara said: “Offshore substations are among the most important components of the Baltic Power wind farm. They will enable delivery of zero-emission energy generated in the Baltic Sea to Poland’s power grid and, ultimately, to our customers.”
He added that the successful installation confirmed “the capabilities of Baltic Power’s partners in executing demanding investment projects”, highlighting the growing contribution of Polish industry to offshore wind.
The substations were manufactured and assembled with strong domestic participation, with their steel structures built at shipyards in Gdynia and Gdansk by Grupa Przemyslowa Baltic, part of the Industrial Development Agency Group. Specialist cranes were supplied by Polish manufacturer Protea, and other national companies have provided turbine nacelle components, foundation parts, and onshore cables.
Main contractors CS Wind Offshore and Semco Maritime led fabrication, with final outfitting completed in Denmark, bringing each unit’s total weight to 2500 tonnes.
Baltic Power’s local-content ratio is expected to reach at least 21% across the project lifecycle.
Commissioning of the 1.2GW project is scheduled for next year, followed by testing, certification and permitting. Once operational, the farm will generate about 4TWh of electricity annually – around 3% of Poland’s national demand – enough to power 1.5 million households.
The wind farm covers 130km² in the Baltic Sea, roughly the size of Gdynia, and is located 23km off the coast near Leba and Choczewo.