Ørsted and PGE just took an extraordinary leap in getting the Baltica 2 offshore wind farm across the goal line. TenneT and Dutch partner have now finished preparing the seabed for phase 1. This ambitious project is set to become Poland’s first and largest offshore wind farm by 2027. Most ambitiously, it seeks to provide up to 1.5 gigawatts (GW) of energy capacity and impressive. Once operational, Baltica 2 will help power more than 2.5 million households with clean electricity. It will be key to address the energy transition in Poland.
The first stage of seabed preparation included the clearing and conditioning of over 150 kilometers of corridors for inter-array cables. The new Boka Falcon installation vessel played a key role in this effort, racing to get these corridors cleared to pass the turbines and services to offshore substations. This newly finalized stretch doesn’t just represent advancement, it lays the groundwork for the eventual phases of the multi-modal project.
In the future phases, Ørsted and PGE will work on establishing a 260-kilometer corridor for export cables. Specialty vessel Boka Falcon addressed the difficult task of clearing massive boulders. Some of these boulders exceeded two meters in size and were found both along inter-array and export cable routes. This very detailed planning is necessary to ensure that the infrastructure that will eventually comprise the wind farm can be installed without a hitch.
“By finalising work on the inter-array cable routes we are concluding an important part of subsea preparation for the connections between turbines,” commented Ulrik Lange. He’s the vice president and managing director of the Baltica 2 project at Ørsted.
―Construction of PGE Baltica is at an advanced stage of works underway, said Bartosz Fedurek, president of the PGE Baltica management board. He noted that it is going tremendously with the installation of the first Baltica 2 components offshore. Meanwhile, on the Baltic Sea seabed, preparations are already well underway to install foundations and lay cables. Contractors have completed the construction corridors for the cables that interconnect the turbines. Currently, they are designing the path for the undersea cables that will export most of the power. Soon they’ll be connected to the onshore cable section.”
This year, Baltica 2 will reach pivotal moments in its unfolding story. Look for the first set of foundations, export cables, and offshore substations to begin turning up offshore. Cable trenching will begin late 2025. We’ll even deploy some of the most state-of-the-art equipment like the Megalodon plough to help prepare the seabed for future cable laying.
The Ndurance and Boka Ocean, both operated by Boskalis, are now equipped to take on the installation of export cables. This important milestone will mark an incredible leap forward in the project’s momentum.