TotalEnergies bids to develop 10 GW of offshore wind projects
TotalEnergies and KGHM have signed a partnership to participate on a 50-50 basis in the Polish government tender to develop offshore wind projects.
The government has launched a new auction scheme covering 11 areas in the Polish Baltic Sea, representing an expected total capacity of more than 10 gigawatts (GW), in order to leverage the Baltic Sea’s strong potential for wind power generation due to favorable weather conditions.
The partnership will build on the strengths of both companies. TotalEnergies will leverage its proven expertise in offshore operations, its experience in managing large-scale projects and its ties with the worldwide supply chains. KGHM, as a major Polish state-owned group, will bring its knowledge of the Polish market.
TotalEnergies is already developing a portfolio of offshore wind projects with a total capacity of more than 10 GW, of which two-thirds are bottom-fixed and one-third are floating. These projects are located in the United Kingdom (Seagreen project, Outer Dowsing, Erebus, ScotWind), South Korea (Bada project), Taiwan (Yunlin project), France (Eolmed project) and the United States (New York Bight project). The company has also been qualified to participate in competitive tenders in the U.S., UK and France, and will also participate in tenders in Norway and Poland.
If awarded one or more wind farms, the partners will mobilize the best resources to develop these projects to the highest standards and delivery times, with a high level of local content, thereby boosting the local industry, creating jobs in Poland and contributing to the supply of green electricity at a competitive price.
“The development of offshore wind contributes both to Europe’s energy transition and supply security. With favorable weather conditions, Poland is particularly well positioned to participate in the growth of this promising market,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies. “We are delighted to partner with KGHM to respond to Polish offshore wind tenders. Together, we will mobilize all our expertise to meet the challenges of these projects and thus contribute to Poland’s renewable energy goals.”
“In KGHM’s strategy we declared the achievement of climate neutrality by 2050. We are past the stage of planning and are involved in concrete actions. We are engaged in the process of acquiring several onshore and offshore projects. We have also submitted preliminary applications for the next round of permits in the Baltic,” said Marcin Chludziński, president of the Management Board of KGHM Polska Miedź S.A. “Cooperation with a French partner on an offshore wind farm project appears to be highly promising,” he said.