Over 80 ships have been involved so far: Poland’s first offshore wind farm “Baltic Power” is nearing completion. All foundations have been installed.
“Baltic Power” is a joint venture between the Polish Orlen Group and Northland Power. They want to put their wind farm in the Baltic Sea into operation at the end of 2026. An important intermediate step has now been achieved: the main installation work on all 78 key elements of the foundations – monopiles for turbines and offshore substations – has been completed. Over 20 ships and 500 crew members were involved. The wind farm is located approximately 23 km off the coast near Choczewo and Łeba and covers an area of 130 square kilometers.
“We carried out a campaign that was unprecedented in Poland in terms of the scope and scale of the work. The ship crews worked precisely with heavy loads of 1,300 to 1,700 tons and a length of 100 meters. Therefore, numerous work steps had to be carried out in a single attempt in order to avoid errors. In addition, the work was carried out under difficult sea and weather conditions. This is why this is such a significant milestone and a moment of pride for all of us,” said Maciej Stryjecki, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Baltic Power.
The project is an example of the importance a wind farm can have for the maritime industry: The installation of the monopiles required the deployment of an entire fleet of specialized vessels – there were now more than 80 units in total, and on the “construction site” itself there are 20 on a day-to-day basis. In addition to the main vessels that carried out the lifting and pile-driving work, a fleet of tugs, crew transfer vessels, environmental monitoring vessels and offshore supply vessels supported the main operations.
The installation of the remaining transition pieces is currently being completed. Laying the offshore cables is the next major task. “However, this part of the campaign is highly weather-dependent, as sub-zero temperatures and severe winter conditions can affect the work carried out,” said Jens Poulsen, Senior Project Director and Board Member of Baltic Power.
Status of construction work at the Baltic Power offshore wind farm:
- Monopile: 78/78 – completed
- Transition pieces: 60/78
- Wind turbines: 30/76
- Offshore substations: 2/2 – completed
- Onshore substation: +90 % completed
- Onshore cables: +90 % completed
- Offshore export cables: in progress, 2/4
- Offshore inter-array cable: available shortly
- Service base: completed and ready for operation
