Polish Briefing: First support for offshore wind | Underground power lines are still too expensive

What goes in Poland on 8th of April?

Polish regulator URE granted support for three offshore wind farm projects in Poland.

Those are Baltica 2 (1498 MW) and Baltica 3 (1045 MW) from polish state energy utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna and Danish Orsted and Baltic Trade and Invest (350 MW) from German RWE.

Those projects will get a contract for difference with a guaranteed price of 319,60 PLN per MWh. More projects are to be assessed by URE soon.

Underground power lines are still too expensive

According to Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne, Polish electricity grid operator, underground cable technology is still expensive.

There are discussions around Europe if network operators should change traditional overhead power lines into underground cables. – You can not see the cables and that is their advantage however it is easier to repair or conserve traditional power lines – states PSE in commentary for BiznesAlert.com. – Environmental interference is also bigger in the case of underground cables, because you need to dig deep excavations. Traditional power lines can omit forests and you need to dig the ground only for the sake of foundations.

Wojciech Jakóbik