With the passing of the first Polish offshore wind act, plans for offshore wind development in the Baltic Sea are at hand and the construction of the very first Polish offshore wind farms will soon become a reality.
By 2030, approximately 5.9 GW will be commissioned in the Polish exclusive economic zone of the Baltic Sea. PGE Capital Group – the leader in offshore wind projects in Poland, is by then committed to deliver the 2.5 GW.
Long-awaited regulatory framework is here
The offshore wind act frames conditions of deploying offshore wind farms in the Polish zone of the Baltic Sea. The act also streamlines and simplifies necessary permitting procedures and includes provisions pertaining to establishing the local supply chain. Poland has decided to introduce a market-based scheme through two-sided contract for difference (CfD) model being the most cost-effective solution and also in line with the EU state aid principles and Renewable Energy Directive.
It comes as the UN secretary general s special adviser on Climate Action has told Sky News
The installation that produced the most emissions in Europe was the Belchatow Power Station in Poland, which emits the same amount of CO2 as the whole of New Zealand - 32.7 million tonnes.
The massive coal-fired plant is a typical example of why some countries have been lax in decarbonising to the same extent as the UK.
Poland has a large coal mining industry and, despite a legal campaign against Belchatow in 2019, the country s president said the government would be reluctant to give up on coal when there is still 200-years worth of supplies left.