Baltica 1 obtains environmental permit
The Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Gdańsk has issued a decision on environmental conditions for the Baltica 1 offshore wind farm. This means the project will be eligible to participate in the auction scheduled for December 17th of this year.
"Receiving the environmental permit for the Baltica 1 project is an important step towards reaching the goal set in the strategy of PGE Group – achieving at least 4 GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2035. This decision allows us to submit the project to the offshore auction planned for this year. This is a clear signal to the market that the development of offshore wind energy in Poland is gaining momentum, and domestic companies have a real opportunity to actively participate in this process. Baltica 1, with a capacity of 0.9 GW, is another project in which we want to engage Polish suppliers and jointly build a strong Polish value chain," said Dariusz Marzec, President of the Management Board of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna.
PGE Baltica, the PGE Group's daughter company responsible for the development and construction of offshore wind energy projects, conducted comprehensive environmental studies prior to issuing the environmental permit. These studies allowed for a thorough assessment of the marine environment – not only in terms of geological structure and physicochemical parameters of water and bottom sediments, but also in terms of the organisms present in the study area – plants and animals inhabiting the seabed, as well as fish, birds, and mammals, including bats. This effort was undertaken to minimize the environmental impact both during construction and during the project's long-term operation.
The research and report were conducted by a consortium of Polish contractors – Gdynia Maritime University and MEWO, a company specializing in marine environmental measurements.
Baltica 1 with an installed capacity of approximately 0.9 GW is being developed by the PGE Group and, if awarded the contract for difference in this year's auction, will be commissioned by the end of 2032. Baltica 1 will be located approximately 80 km north of Władysławowo and the Polish Baltic Sea coast. The project already has a location permit and a connection agreement. The future Baltica 1 offshore wind farm has already completed geotechnical and geological surveys onshore and offshore, as well as measurements of wind conditions, sea currents and waves.