GE Renewable Energy and PKN ORLEN have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the development of offshore wind projects in Poland – a country expected to award up to 10.9 GW of offshore wind projects by 2030 and up to 28 GW by 2050.
GE has a long history in Poland, with over 5,000 employees working in aviation, healthcare, power and GE Renewable Energy. The company has an engineering design center with over 1,200 engineers. GE Renewable Energy already has over 300 onshore wind turbines delivering 900 MW, with almost half of that coming online since 2018. LM Wind Power, a GE Renewable Energy business, also employs around 1,000 employees at its Goleniow onshore wind turbine blade manufacturing site.
“Poland is well positioned to use offshore wind resources to help accelerate the energy transition,” says Jérôme Pécresse, a senior vice president at GE and CEO of GE Renewable Energy. “The agreement that we are signing charts a path to take pragmatic steps that can take full advantage of Poland substantial offshore wind resources to create win-win outcomes in terms of the environment and economic development.”
“We are implementing a strategy that assumes an increase in capacity from renewable energy sources to over 2.5 GW at the end of this decade,” states Daniel Obajtek, president of the management board of PKN ORLEN. “We want to achieve this level mainly by investing in offshore wind energy and, at the same time, expanding the RES portfolio with additional capacity in onshore wind farms. The agreement we signed with GE Renewable Energy supports the implementation of these ambitious goals.”
The government of Poland has announced plans to award up to 10.9 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and offers new sea areas enabling development of future offshore wind projects. Country’s offshore wind capacity is estimated to be 28 GWs by 2050. The country is also well positioned to serve the broader efforts to develop offshore wind in the Baltic region.
Image by m.prinke is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
