Poland is planning to assign new areas for offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea and is drafting additional measures to boost the security of its critical energy infrastructure, government officials said on Wednesday.
"Maritime offices will submit analyses any moment, which will give grounds to make a decision on designating new areas for offshore wind farms," Deputy Infrastructure Minister Arkadiusz Marchewka told an industry conference.
Poland is boosting its offshore ambitions in the Baltic Sea, even though Sweden earlier this month rejected applications to build offshore wind farms in the Baltic saying they would pose defence risks.
"Offshore wind is Poland's reason of state," Marchewka said.
Warsaw is drafting legislation on security requirements for offshore wind farms under development, including measures to allow security firms to patrol offshore energy infrastructure, a security official told the conference.
"Events we have all been witness to since the start of the war in Ukraine, hybrid threats, some of which you hear about in the media, are crucially important," Zbigniew Muszynski, head of the Government Centre for Security, said.
In 2023, the Polish government approved legislation allowing its military to sink an enemy ship targeting its Baltic energy infrastructure.
Investors, including PGE, Orlen, Equinor and Orsted are developing 6 gigawatts (GW) of offshore capacity along the Polish coast set to come online by 2030 and auctions for projects in the second round are planned for 2025.
Polish offshore potential is as high as 33 GW, according to the Polish Wind Energy Association (PSEW).
Poland last month raised the price it will offer for wind power from new Baltic Sea projects next year after investors said the initial price was too low to meet government targets. The government also plans to differentiate the price depending on the distance of the project from the shore.
(Reuters - Reporting by Marek StrzeleckiEditing by Ros Russell)