Seabed surveys completed for the ORLEN Group’s next offshore wind farm

– Seabed surveys are one of the key milestones in our offshore wind farm project. Works in the Baltic Sea were performed by a consortium of three Polish companies, which shows the growing readiness of the Polish supply chain to provide high-quality services for the offshore wind energy sector. It is important that the involvement of Polish companies in our projects is maximized. The offshore surveys were conducted to the highest standards and best practices, keeping environmental impact to a minimum. The results will allow us to move efficiently into the next stages of project delivery - said Janusz Bil, President of the Management Board of ORLEN Neptun. 

Seabed surveys for the Baltic East project began in late June and lasted more than 15 weeks. During this period, three specialist vessels put to sea, operating across the entire planned wind-farm area. Their surveys and their subsequent analysis will enable an accurate modelling of the seabed geology at the project site, the preparation of the documentation required for design work, and an action plan for future geological campaigns.

Multichannel 2D seismic surveys were conducted by Geofizyka Toruń. In the next stages, analysis of the acquired data will focus on the preliminary identification of soil strata and the interpretation of potential geohazards, such as boulder fields and shallow gas.

UXO surveys – searches for potential unexploded ordnance – were carried out by MEWO. They enabled an assessment of seabed clearance with respect to hazardous objects at the locations of the geotechnical investigations. Several dozen magnetic anomalies were identified. Conducting UXO surveys prior to the offshore geotechnical campaign is a key and mandatory step that ensures the safety of personnel, equipment, and infrastructure.

The final stage of field investigations was carried out by ORLEN Petrobaltic using the vessel SYLUR. In total, more than 1,200 metres of geotechnical boreholes and soundings were completed, to depths of up to 80 metres below the seabed. Laboratory work on the recovered soil samples is now under way, alongside interpretation of the seismic survey results.

The Baltic East project already holds preliminary conditions for connection to the transmission grid, permit to erect or use artificial islands, structures and equipment, and permits to lay and maintain cables within internal sea waters and the territorial sea.

In 2026, the ORLEN Group will be the first to bring Baltic Power online – the most advanced offshore wind project in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea. It will add almost 1.2 GW of capacity to Poland’s power system, equivalent to around 3% of the national electricity demand. Baltic East is an adjacent project, with potential for close to 1 GW of installed capacity, enough to meet the electricity needs of 1.25 million households.

The Group also holds another four licenses for the construction of wind farms in the Baltic Sea.  Taken together, these licences give a total potential of around 6.4 GW of installed offshore wind capacity. These projects support the ORLEN Group’s strategy, which envisages 12.8 GW of installed capacity in renewable energy sources by 2035.