Poland receives 47 offshore wind farm applications

Poland has attracted 47 applications from investors interested in developing wind energy projects off its Baltic coast, according to Anna Wypych-Namiotko, deputy minister of transport, construction and maritime economy.

To attract interest, Warsaw extended the permits for offshore wind power plants to 30 years from five and spread out fees over several years. It is also changing its renewables support plan, focusing more on solar energy, biogas plants, offshore wind generation and small hydropower units at the expense of biomass, old hydropower plants and onshore wind farms.

Setting up Poland’s first wind farm will take at least six years, said Bogdan Gutkowski, head of the Polish Offshore Wind Energy Sector Society. Limited access to the national grid may curb its potential though unless the grid is strengthened.

Polish power company PGE plans to control 1,000 megawatts in offshore wind farms by 2020 and add a further 1 GW in the following five years, according to its strategy published this month.

www.southbaltic-offshore.eu