Work on the construction of a service base that will service the Baltic Power offshore wind farm, a joint project between ORLEN Group and Northland Power, has begun in Leba. It will be a mother port for vessels transporting equipment and technical personnel responsible for maintaining the investment. The base will employ a total of around 60 people and will service the farm for its entire life cycle, i.e. a minimum of 25 years.
The service base in Leba will be ready in 2025, one year before the Baltic Power farm becomes operational. An area of approximately 1.1 hectares will house, a farm spare parts warehouse and a workshop. The waterfront will be able to accommodate vessels with a maximum length of 35m. The base will be permanently serviced by 3-4 specialised vessels designed to transport equipment and service personnel. Each will take up to 24 technicians on board with full equipment. The estimated cost of the investment is approximately PLN 62 million.
Offshore wind energy projects are accompanied by significant investment in onshore infrastructure. A station is already being built in the municipality of Choczewo to receive energy from the sea, and an Orlen Neptun installation terminal is under construction in Świnoujście, which will be used, among other things, for the construction of Baltic Power. Leba is another location that will play an important role in the service ecosystem of the Polish offshore wind industry. A service base that is able to respond quickly to current operational needs will be key to maintaining the maximum efficiency of our investment," says Daniel Obajtek, President of the ORLEN Management Board.
The most important tasks of the technicians operating from the base will include maintaining the proper operation of the wind farm through cyclical inspections of the wind turbines. During these, service personnel will verify the performance, wear and tear and operational parameters of individual turbine components, in accordance with strictly defined procedures, and make ongoing repairs as necessary. The technicians' work will be supported by a production management IT system, which, while monitoring the efficiency of the farm on an ongoing basis, will also indicate turbines or their components requiring, for example, routine replacement.
When selecting the location of service bases, their distance from the investment is of key importance, ensuring the shortest time for service teams to reach the farm. In the case of the service base for Baltic Power, it will be just 40 minutes, which we can consider a very good result. We also hope that the 60 new jobs our project will create will be a real support for the local labour market in Leba," says Jens Poulsen, Member of the Board of Baltic Power.
The Baltic Power offshore wind farm is the most advanced offshore wind project in Poland. The preparation phase was completed in September 2023, with full financing secured from 25 international financial institutions. On schedule, the project has obtained the necessary construction permits and contracts for all key components. Baltic Power will be one of the first farms in the world to install 15 MW wind turbines and the first in the world to have a significant portion of its turbine towers made of Low-emission steel. With completion in 2026, Baltic Power will be the first Polish offshore wind farm operating in the Baltic Sea, covering 3% of the country's energy needs while reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 2.8 million tonnes per year.
