Poland’s Orlen Group plans to compete in an upcoming auction for the development of an offshore wind farm with a capacity of 700 MW in the Lithuanian part of the Baltic Sea.
The auction for the developer of Lithuania’s first offshore wind farm is planned to be launched in the second half of 2023, with the project expected to be operational as early as 2028.
It is estimated that 700 MW of offshore wind capacity in the Baltic Sea could produce up to 2 TWh of green electricity per year, which would ensure up to a quarter of Lithuania’s electricity demand.
The Orlen Group is already developing offshore wind projects in Poland and said that it will be ”the first Polish enterprise to start the development of an offshore wind farm in the Baltic Sea.”
PKN Orlen is currently developing the 1.2 GW Baltic Power offshore wind project in partnership with Canada’s Northland Power.
The project has secured a Contract for Difference (CfD) as part of the Polish government’s commitment, through the Polish Offshore Wind Act, to support an initial phase of 5.9 GW of offshore wind.
The Orlen Group has also recently submitted multiple applications for location permits to develop offshore wind farms in newly designated areas of the Polish Baltic Sea.
The Polish government has offered eleven new areas in total for the development of offshore wind farms with a combined capacity of 10 GW, as well as energy islands .