EuropeOffshoreRenewables

Ørsted eyes Baltic offshore wind with Poland’s largest private power company

Danish utility Ørsted has inked a letter of intent with ZE PAK, Poland’s largest privately-owned energy producer, to participate in the upcoming auction for seabed leases in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.

The next step for the partnership will be to set up a 50/50 joint venture which will be subject to merger clearance. If successful in the upcoming auction, the partners intend to jointly bid in Poland’s future offshore wind CfD auctions planned for 2025 and 2027 to further expand their footprint.

Warsaw-listed ZE PAK is Poland’s fifth-largest power producer. The company has decided to phase out coal-fired power generation no later than 2030 and intends to join the bourgeoning market for renewable hydrogen to help decarbonise other sectors such as heavy transportation and heavy industry.

“If you are serious about offshore wind energy, then Ørsted, the world’s no. 1 in this field, is the best possible partner. The potential, achievements and experience of Ørsted in the production of clean energy are impressive and can undoubtedly support the energy transformation of both ZE PAK and the entire Polish energy sector,” said Zygmunt Solorz, main shareholder and chairman of the supervisory board of ZE PAK.

There are currently no offshore wind farms in Poland, but as part of its transition to a low-emission energy system, the country aims to install 5.9 GW offshore wind by 2030 and 11 GW by 2040.

“Poland is a strategically important market for Ørsted, and we hope to further expand our presence and investments to help Poland harvest the clean energy resources that are abundantly available in the Baltic Sea,” added Rasmus Errboe, head of region continental Europe at Ørsted.

Adis Ajdin

Adis is an experienced news reporter with a background in finance, media and education. He has written across the spectrum of offshore energy and ocean industries for many years and is a member of International Federation of Journalists. Previously he had written for Navingo media group titles including Offshore Energy, Subsea World News and Marine Energy.
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