Poland has installed two major offshore substations for its first wind farm in the Baltic Sea, a milestone for the country’s push toward renewable energy, the developers said on Tuesday.
The substations, each weighing 2,500 tonnes and named OSS West and OSS East, were positioned about 20 kilometres off the coast near Choczewo. They will collect power from 76 Vestas turbines, each rated at 15 megawatts, before sending electricity via subsea cables to an onshore substation in the Choczewo municipality.
“Offshore substations are among the most important components of the Baltic Power wind farm. They will enable delivery of zero-emission energy generated in the Baltic Sea to Poland’s power grid and, ultimately, to our customers,” said Ireneusz Fąfara, president and chief executive of Orlen, Baltic Power’s Polish partner.
Fąfara added that the installation demonstrated “the capabilities of Baltic Power’s partners in executing demanding investment projects,” underscoring the role of Polish industry in the expanding offshore wind sector.
The substations were manufactured and assembled with significant domestic involvement. Their steel structures were built at shipyards in Gdynia and Gdansk by Grupa Przemysłowa Baltic, part of the Industrial Development Agency Group. Polish firms also supplied specialist cranes, turbine nacelle components, foundation parts, and onshore cabling.
Main contractors CS Wind Offshore and Semco Maritime led fabrication, with final outfitting carried out in Denmark. Baltic Power expects the local content of the project to reach at least 21% over its lifecycle.
The 1.2-gigawatt project is scheduled for commissioning next year, followed by testing, certification, and permitting. Once operational, the wind farm will generate around 4 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, approximately 3% of Poland’s national demand, enough to power roughly 1.5 million households.
Spanning 130 square kilometres in the Baltic Sea—roughly the size of Gdynia—the farm is located 23 kilometres off the coast near Łeba and Choczewo.
