Heerema Marine Contractors’ heavy-lift vessel Thialf has installed the first foundations at the Bałtyk 2 & 3 offshore wind farms, owned by Equinor and Polenergia, which said on 25 May that “the first dozen sets of monopiles and transition pieces” were in place at the project site in the Polish Baltic Sea.
The monopiles, measuring around 50 to 70 metres in length, are being installed using a specialised gripper frame before 17-metre-tall transition pieces are mounted on top. A total of 100 monopile and transition piece sets will be installed across the two offshore wind farms.
According to the developers, environmental mitigation measures are being implemented during installation work, including marine mammal monitoring, soft-start piling procedures, and the use of bubble curtains to reduce underwater noise.
The foundations are manufactured by a consortium comprising Sif and Smulders, which secured contracts for the fabrication of monopiles and transition pieces for both projects. The transition pieces are being produced at Smulders’ facilities in Belgium, with final assembly and logistics operations carried out in Poland.
The offshore substation jackets are scheduled for installation later this year. Iemants, a subsidiary of Smulders, is responsible for the design and construction of the two offshore substations.
Bałtyk 2 & 3 will comprise a total of 100 Siemens Gamesa SG 14-236 DD offshore wind turbines, the first of which is scheduled to be installed in 2027.
The first electricity from the offshore wind farms is expected in 2027, with full commercial power production scheduled in 2028.
With a combined capacity of 1.44 GW, the Bałtyk 2 & 3 offshore wind farms, being built as one project, are expected to supply renewable electricity to around two million households once operational.