PGE and Ørsted select contractor for commissioning of Baltica 2 onshore substation
A joint-venture of PGE and Ørsted developing the Baltica 2 offshore wind farm has selected the company responsible for commissioning of the onshore transformer station located in the Choczewo municipality in Pomerania. The task will be performed by the Polish company Enprom.
"Selection and signing of the contract with the contractor who will commission the onshore station for Baltica 2 is a confirmation of how advanced the project is. Electrical commissioning of onshore connection infrastructure, and its subsequent continuous operation, will translate into proper operation of the offshore turbines and uninterrupted electricity production. We are especially pleased that this work will be carried out by a Polish company, one of the largest power engineering companies in Poland, one that understands specifics of offshore wind investment. This way we move yet another step towards increasing share of domestic component in overall project," said Bartosz Fedurek, CEO of PGE Baltica.
“I am pleased to see that more Polish companies are joining the offshore wind supply chain. Signing contract with Enprom proves that the market has local capabilities needed for the growing offshore wind industry. It is a very important scope - from onshore substation we monitor and control the entire electrical infrastructure, including offshore substations and wind turbines located approximately 40 km offshore,” said Ulrik Lange, Vice President and Managing Director for the Baltica 2 project at Ørsted.
The contract with Enprom provides for commissioning of the power evacuation, which includes compliance tests and verifications required by the transmission system operator (PSE), tests confirming design assumptions, and a trial run and commissioning of the station. The contract delivery period is 21 months. Enprom will verify each element of the essential equipment related to the transmission and distribution of electricity, as well as all other equipment related to the proper and safe operation of the entire facility.
"This project will allow us to combine our station expertise with our extensive offshore experience. Suffice it to say that with the signing of the contract for the Baltica 2 project, Enprom will be present as a contractor in all four wind farms currently under construction in the Polish Baltic Sea," commented Piotr Tomczyk, Enprom's board member.
The high-voltage substation for the Baltica 2 wind farm will be built on a nearly 13-hectare site in Osieki Lęborskie, Choczewo municipality in Pomerania. The electricity produced by the offshore wind farm will be delivered to this substation. After reaching the shore, power will flow toward the onshore transformer station through a six kilometre long 275 kV cable line.. There, it will be converted to 400 kV and then transmitted to the national grid via the nearby PSE Choczewo substation. North of the station, near the coast, work is underway on a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) project that will enable the connection of the onshore and offshore sections of the cables. Using this technology, investors are significantly minimizing their environmental impact. The commissioning of an onshore transformer station itself has no impact on the normal operation of the low and medium voltage distribution network, both in the vicinity of the station being built and commissioned, and in other installations.
Baltica 2, with a capacity of up to 1.5 GW, is a joint investment by PGE and Ørsted. Once operational in 2027, it will be the largest offshore wind farm in Poland, capable of supplying approximately 2.5 million households with green energy.