Van Oord to Install Baltica 2 Monopiles Offshore Poland

Business & Finance

February 14, 2024, by Adnan Memija

Netherlands-based Van Oord has been contracted for the construction of the Baltica 2, which is the first stage of the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm in the Polish Baltic Sea.

The offshore wind project, developed by PGE and Ørsted, will be located in the Polish section of the Baltic Sea approximately 40 kilometres off the coast of Poland between Łeba and Ustka.

Under the contract, Van Oord will transport and install 111 extended monopiles, of which 107 will serve as foundations for wind turbines and the other 4 as foundations for offshore substations.

Van Oord will deploy the offshore installation vessel Aeolus and heavy-lift installation vessel Svanen, which will undergo a major upgrade this year, on the 1.5 GW Polish offshore wind project.

The extension of the gantry crane will increase Svanen’s lifting capacity and, as a result, will enable the vessel to install the foundations for the Siemens Gamesa 14 MW wind turbines used at the Baltica 2 offshore wind farm, Van Oord said.

The company’s fallpipe vessel Nordnes will be deployed to accurately and efficiently install rock at all foundation locations.

The monopiles will be supplied by German-based Steelwind Nordenham (34 units) and the Navantia-Windar consortium (77 units).

“In 2023 we finalized contracts for the supply of all components for the offshore part of the Baltica 2 project, and we already have the last contracts ahead of us, which bring us closer to the realization of this strategic project for offshore wind energy in Poland,” said Agata Staniewska-Bolesta, Managing Director of Ørsted Offshore Poland.

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Semco Maritime and PTSC Mechanical & Construction (PTSC M&C) will be responsible for the design, manufacturing, and commissioning of the offshore substations while Orient Cable (NBO) will be delivering 170 kilometres of 66 kV subsea array cables that will be connecting the wind turbines to the offshore substations.

“We have already chartered vessels for the installation of turbines and cables, and now also a fleet that will install the foundations that commence the construction of the offshore wind farm. The start of installation of monopiles is scheduled for 2026, while first electricity from Baltica 2 will flow to consumers a year later,” said Arkadiusz Sekściński, President of the Management Board at PGE Baltica.

PGE and Ørsted plan to commission Baltica 2 by the end of 2027 and the 1 GW Baltica 3 project by 2030. With a joint capacity of 2.5 GW, the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 will create the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm.