Equinor and Polenergia have been awarded contracts for difference (CfDs) for two Polish offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 1,440MW.
The 50:50 partners secured 25-year CfDs at a price of PLN 319.60/MWh (€70.23/MWh) – subject to adjustments and approval from the Polish authorities and the European Commission – for their 720MW BaÅ‚tyk 2 and 720MW BaÅ‚tyk 3 projects.
This PLN 319.60/MWh strike price is the same as was awarded to an Ørsted-PGE joint venture for two wind farms with a combined capacity of just over 2.5GW. RWE Renewables also secured CfDs for a 350MW project in the first round of Poland’s offshore wind auction.
Poland’s Energy Regulatory Office has now contracted about 4.3GW of offshore wind in the Baltic Sea.
Pål Eitrheim, Equinor’s executive vice president for New Energy Solutions, said the allocations will help to create industrial activity and jobs.
Construction on Baltyk II and Baltyk III could start in 2024, Equinor stated.
The Energy Regulatory Office is still considering other projects in an allocation phase that could see a total of up to 5.9GW of offshore wind capacity selected by the end of June 2021. It is then due to award a further 5GW through two competitive tenders in 2025 and 2027.
Nine applications were submitted in the first allocation phase, according to the Polish Wind Energy Association (PSEW).
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