Poland – RWE has chosen Atlantique Offshore Energy, a subsidiary of Chantiers de l’Atlantique, to engineer, procure, construct, install, and commission the electrical offshore substation for F.E.W. Baltic II, one of the first offshore wind farms in the Polish Baltic Sea.
The 350 megawatt (MW) wind farm will be capable of producing enough green electricity to meet the needs of around 350,000 Polish households once it is fully operational.
The substation will collect and export power generated by offshore wind turbines via high-voltage submarine cables, as well as remotely control and monitor the wind farm’s operation. Design work has already begun, with early permitting expected this year and the substation’s full installation scheduled for 2025. Chantiers de l’Atlantique and RWE have collaborated on an offshore wind project for the second time, following the successful delivery of the Arkona offshore substation in 2018.
Poland’s wind ambitions
RWE can rely on the expertise and capabilities of Chantiers de l’Atlantique teams and subcontractors in France to complete this project. RWE and Chantiers de l’Atlantique will also rely on a wide range of Polish companies for engineering and equipment and service delivery. This partnership will help the French and Polish offshore wind value chains gain traction and play a key role in the substation’s installation in Polish waters.
RWE will make a significant contribution to the local economy as well as the green energy transition in Poland, one of its strategic core markets in Europe, through the F.E.W. Baltic II project. RWE already has a well-established onshore wind business in Poland, and it is expanding its renewables portfolio by investing in solar projects there.
The environmental permit for the F.E.W. Baltic II offshore project was granted to RWE in 2021. It was the first Environmental Impact Assessment for a Polish offshore wind project to be conducted using a cross-border procedure (ESPOO convention), with Danish and Swedish stakeholders participating. RWE’s project was also awarded a Contract for Difference (CfD) by the Polish Energy Regulatory Office last year, confirming that it has been selected for the first phase of Poland’s ambitious offshore wind build-out program. The CfD award is contingent on the European Commission’s final approval, which is expected in 2022.
