PGE Begins Wind Resource Measuring Campaign for Baltica 1 Wind Farm
PGE Baltica, subsidiary of PGE Group, is starting the stage of measuring of wind resources and metocean data collection for the needs of the Baltica 1 offshore wind farm. The campaign will be carried out by EOLOS Floating LiDAR Solutions, one of the most experienced providers of this kind of marine research. It starts in the second half of May 2022 and will last for about two years.
“The Baltica 1 project, with a capacity of up to 1 GW, is continued to be developed according to the schedule. The commencement of operation of this offshore wind farm is set for the beginning of the next decade. The project received a location permit and was pre-conditioned for connection to the transmission network. The launch of the wind and meteorological resources measurement campaign is yet another important step in the development of the investment,” commented Dariusz Lociński, President of the Management Board of PGE Baltica. “Two years of measurements may seem quite a long period, but it is necessary to obtain a precise knowledge of the meteorological conditions in the area designated for the construction of an offshore power plant. The measurements will constitute an invaluable database for the next stages of the development of this project, especially for arranging of wind turbines during installation, so that the power is used in the most effective way,” he added.
As part of the measurement campaign for the Baltica 1 wind farm, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology will be used, mounted on a floating buoy. The laser beam emitted by LiDAR is reflected from air suspended solids and returns to the device, which analyzes the reflected signal and estimates the speed of air masses passing over it. The equipment used allows for wind probes at an altitude of over 200 meters above sea level. Additional sensors mounted on the buoy also allow the measurement of wave movements and sea currents.
The Floating Lidar System (FLS200) engaged in the measurement campaign is currently being refurbished at the EOLOS workshop in Barcelona, from where it will be transported by road to Władysławowo for its assembly and preparation to be installed at the Baltica 1 site during the second half of May.
The contract with the measurement contractor was signed in December 2021 as a result of a tender procedure in the form of a competitive dialogue. The Spanish company EOLOS had been already cooperating with PGE in the Baltic Sea – in 2019 it completed similar research for the PGE’s Baltica 3 project. At that time the company only had 2 buoys, now its fleet grew to 17 buoys deployed across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Baltica 1 is one of PGE’s three currently developed wind farm projects in the Baltic Sea. In the years 2026-2027, the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 are to start operating, together making up the Baltica Offshore Wind Farm with a total installed capacity of approx. 2.5 GW. Baltica 1, on the other hand, is to be put into operation after 2030, and its installed capacity will be about 1 GW. It will be developed approx. 80 km from the Polish shore of the Baltic Sea on the Central Bank (Ławica Centralna), north of the Baltica 2 and Baltica 3 projects. By implementing further offshore wind farm projects, PGE intends to fulfill the strategic goals of achieving at least 6.5 GW of generation capacity installed in the Baltic Sea.
