Poland's First Offshore Wind Farm Completes Installation of 76 Turbines

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 7, the Baltic Power offshore wind project in the Baltic Sea, jointly developed by Poland's ORLEN Group and Canada's Northland Power, completed the installation of all 76 wind turbines. The project uses Vestas 15 MW offshore wind turbines, with a total installed capacity of approximately 1.14 GW; Northland Power's externally disclosed project capacity figure is 1.1 GW. More than one-third of the turbines have already begun generating electricity, and the remaining units are being commissioned progressively. The project is scheduled to achieve commercial operation in 2026.

Baltic Power is located in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Poland near Leba and Choczewo, approximately 23 kilometers from the coast, with a wind farm area of about 130 square kilometers. The turbine blades are approximately 115 meters long, each unit has a rotor swept area of about 43,000 square meters, and the maximum blade tip height exceeds 250 meters above sea level. The units whose installation was completed this time were supplied by Vestas, with more than one-third of the nacelles manufactured at its Szczecin plant in Poland. Some upper tower sections are made from recycled steel.

Offshore installation of the project's turbines was primarily carried out by Cadeler, which provided the main installation vessel services. Two jack-up installation vessels, the M-class and O-class, were used for construction, supported by offshore O&M vessels, crew transfer vessels, and other auxiliary vessels. Since the start of offshore construction in early 2025, the project has mobilized more than 110 vessels in total, with more than 7,000 crew members, technicians, and contractors participating in the engineering construction, completing tasks including turbine foundations, the offshore substation, and turbine installation.

After installation, each turbine undergoes mechanical, electrical, and high-voltage system commissioning in sequence, and is connected to the grid once the relevant array cables and offshore substation facilities meet power transmission conditions. The units then undergo production system testing and a 240-hour trial run, and are handed over to the O&M team after passing the tests. As of this announcement, the project still has approximately 2,500 equipment and facility assets requiring mandatory inspection, certification, and operating permit procedures. The wind farm first delivered electricity to Poland's national grid in July 2026.

Baltic Power is expected to generate up to 4 billion kWh annually once fully operational, equivalent to approximately 3% of Poland's current national electricity demand, and sufficient to meet the electricity needs of more than 1.5 million households. The project's electricity revenue arrangement includes a 25-year contract for difference mechanism. Under current Polish regulations, before formally obtaining a power generation license, a generation facility may generate and sell electricity during the commissioning phase after meeting temporary operation notification and related fee requirements. Northland Power also confirmed that the project's overall costs remain in line with original expectations.