DNV Tapped to Certify Equinor Wind Farms Offshore Poland

DNV AS has bagged a contract for the certification of two wind farms on the Polish side of the Baltic Sea owned by Equinor ASA and local co-venturer Polenergia SA.

The MFW Baltyk II and MFW Baltyk III projects, meant to be connected to the Polish grid, have a planned capacity of 720 megawatts (MW) each, which together would be enough to power over two million households, according to information on Equinor's website.

"DNV’s scope of work includes the delivery of certificates for the windfarms related to design, fabrication/installation/commissioning and operation in accordance with relevant laws, regulations and codes", the Norwegian quality assurance and risk management firm said in a recent press release. Subject to the certification are the projects' wind turbine generators, offshore substation platform, inter-array cables and offshore export cables, it said.

It did not disclose the value of the contract from Equinor and Polenergia joint ventures MFW Baltyk II Sp. ZOO and MFW Baltyk III Sp. ZOO.

"This move by Poland, to expand its offshore wind capacity, is supported by DNV’s 2022 Energy Transition Outlook Report which states that the share of offshore wind in total wind electricity generation will increase steadily, rising globally from 8 percent in 2020 to 34 percent in 2050", Kim Sandgaard-Mork, executive vice-president for renewables certification at DNV, said in a statement.

“Throughout the forecast period, Europe will maintain its leading position in terms of the portion of electricity demand met through offshore wind sources — both bottom-fixed and floating".

Equinor has interests in all three Baltyk wind farms: MFW Baltyk I, II and III. Baltyk I has a planned capacity of 1,560 MW, according to the owners. Equinor and Polenergia are 50-50 co-owners in each.

The area of the wind farms sits within 49.71 miles (80 kilometers) from the port of Leba, with water depths of 82.02-127.95 feet (25-39 meters), according to information on Polenergia's website.

The wind farms have an expected operation period of 25-30 years, Polenergia says on its website.

Last week Equinor said it has acquired a 26-MW wind farm onshore Poland from Helios Group. The Wilko wind farm in Wielkopolska province will be operated by Equinor's subsidiary in Poland, where the Norwegian majority state-owned company aims "to be a preferred partner contributing to the Polish energy transition and the Norwegian-Polish energy cooperation", as stated on its website.

"The asset will provide immediate production and cash flow", Equinor said in a news release September 6. "Accumulated annual production is estimated at 105 GWh [gigawatt hours] of power per year, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 50,000 Polish households".

Olav Kolbeinstveit, senior vice-president for onshore and renewables markets at Equinor, said in a statement about the new asset, "Equinor’s renewable strategy targets flexible power offering from multi-tech positions in select markets.

"Through our subsidiary Wento, we have built a strong solar portfolio in Poland. By adding onshore wind to Wento’s portfolio of operated assets, we transform Wento into a multi-tech power producer".

Equinor explained, "Solar and onshore wind typically have complementary generation profiles, meaning that solar can balance out shortfalls in wind generation and vice versa".

"A combination of the two technologies can therefore offer a more reliable power generation, reduce portfolio risk, and enhance value creation", it said.

Poland relies on fossil fuels for its energy needs. Hard coal accounted for 21.9 percent of the household energy consumption in the Central European country in 2021, compared to the European Union's average of 2.5 percent, according to the Polish statistics agency's 2023 annual energy report citing EU counterpart Eurostat. Solid biomass accounted for 22.4 percent, natural gas 20.6 percent, liquefied petroleum gas 2.4 percent and light fuel oil 0.5 percent.

"Diversification of generation sources and energy supplies is key to successfully decarbonize Poland’s energy system and enhance its energy security", said Michal Jerzy Kolodziejczyk, Equinor’s country manager in Poland. "With this deal, we are able to further extend our broad energy offering in Poland, which includes gas supplies through the Baltic Pipe, large scale offshore wind projects, solar energy, and now also onshore wind".

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