RWE successful in Polish Contracts for Difference round

The Polish Energy Regulatory Office (ERO) has awarded a Contract for Difference to the 350 MW FEW Baltic II offshore wind project.

The FEW Baltic II wind farm is being developed by Baltic Trade and Invest Sp. z o. o., a subsidiary of the German energy company RWE.

FEW Baltic II is located some 50 kilometres offshore, on the north side of the Slupsk Bank in the Baltic Sea. The wind farm covers an area of around 41 square kilometres, with water depths ranging between 30 and 50 metres.

Earlier this year, RWE signed the Grid Connection Agreement with Poland’s transmission system operator PSE for the wind farm.

Back in 2019, RWE Renewables bought a pipeline of up to four offshore wind projects in Poland with a total generation capacity of more than 1.5 GW. FEW Baltic II is one of those projects. This wind farm could be operational as early as 2025.

Apart from FEW Baltic II, ERO awarded a Contract for Difference to the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm with a capacity of up to 2.5 GW.

The project comprises the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 wind farms and is being jointly developed by Ørsted and Poland’s PGE.

ERO awarded a maximum strike price of PLN 319.6/MWh (EUR 67.93) to the project.

In February, Poland signed into law the Offshore Act which regulates the development of offshore wind farms in the Polish Baltic Sea.

The legislation allows for 10.9 GW of offshore wind capacity to be either operational or under development by 2027.

5.9 GW of capacity is being offered via CfDs by the end of June 2021, with the projects expected to be operational by 2030.

This capacity is allocated by way of an administrative decision by the President of ERO to projects which are at the most advanced stages of development.

ERO said that the applications submitted by other developers are being considered.