Ocean Winds gets 369.5-MW offshore wind CfD in Poland

Ocean Winds (OW), the 50/50 joint venture (JV) formed by EDP Renovaveis SA (ELI:EDPR) and Engie SA (EPA:ENGI), has secured a 369.5-MW contract for difference (CfD) for its B&C-Wind offshore wind farm project in Poland.

The CfD, awarded by the Polish Energy Regulatory Office, brings the project closer to the final investment decision, the Madrid-headquartered developer said today. The CfD strike price is set at PLN 319.60 (USD 84.3/EUR 70.8) per MWh.

The project is located 23 km (14 miles) off the shore in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Polish Baltic Sea, in an area with water depths of between 30 metres (98 ft) and 60 metres.

Grzegorz Gorski, chief operating officer of Ocean Winds and chief executive of OW Polska, said this is “the first step for OW in Poland, with Polish offshore wind program accelerating, we have the ambition, together with Polish partners, to develop, build and operate many more projects.”

In May, the European Commission (EC) approved a EUR-22.5-billion (USD 26.8bn) Polish offshore wind support scheme. The country plans to grant aid for 25 years in the form of a two-way CfD premium, but only up to 100,000 full load hours per MW of installed capacity.

Due to the limited number of projects currently in development, they will be granted aid using the exception to the auction requirement in the first phase of the scheme. The reference price will be administratively fixed based on their costs, up to PLN 319.60 per MWh.

The second phase of the scheme envisages allocating support through tenders, as of 2025.

(PLN 1.0 = USD 0.264/EUR 0.222)

(EUR 1.0 = USD 1.190)

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