RWE to extend Polish wind portfolio to 240 MW

OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2015. Poland is an important core market for RWE. The construction work for the erection of 14 wind power systems at Nowy Staw near the city of Gdansk is starting today. RWE Innogy has been operating a wind farm with a capacity of 45 megawatts (MW) here since 2013, which is now being extended by 28 MW. The systems of the manufacturer Senvion have a capacity of two MW each. All in all, the Nowy Staw wind farm will have an installed capacity of 73 MW after completion. Commissioning is expected to be complete at the end of this year.

Hans B?nting, CEO of RWE Innogy, said: “We intend to grow our onshore capacities in Poland because we have now clarity on the political environment. In fact, we are already starting the second wind project this year today. Nowy Staw has proven its worth as an excellent wind site. Last year, the existing plants generated over 120,000 megawatt-hours of electricity and even exceeded our plans. At the end of the year, one of the largest wind farms in Poland will produce green electricity at Nowy Staw for the equivalent of 94,000 Polish households.”

The wind power systems at Nowy Staw will have a total height of about 150 meters and a rotor diameter of 100 meters. First preparatory construction measures, such as road construction work, are already under way. Crane sites will be built shortly. Foundations are due to be cast in the second quarter of 2015, when the installation of cables will be started in parallel. The installation of the wind power systems is due to start as early as the summer. They will then be put into service successively. The new systems will be connected with the public grid via the existing high-voltage power line to the Malbork substation.

Moreover, RWE Innogy has been erecting seven wind power systems of the manufacturer Nordex with a capacity of 2.4 MW each at Opalenica (region of Poznan) since the beginning of January. All in all, the wind farm will have an installed capacity of some 17 MW and supply the equivalent of more than 21,000 Polish households with green power annually. Commissioning is again due to be
complete at the end of 2015.
At present, RWE operates six onshore wind farms in Poland with an installed total capacity of 197 MW. The sites are spread across three regions: Nowy Staw is situated near the city of Gdansk, Krzecin and Tychowo are located in western Pomerania, and the wind farms of Suwalki, Piecki and Taciewo are situated side-by-side in Podlaskie in the north east of Poland. Opalenica and the extension of Nowy Staw will increase RWE Innogy’s Polish onshore capacity to over 240 MW.

So far, power generation from renewable energies has been supported by a system of “green certificates” in Poland. Electricity suppliers are obliged to offer a certain percentage of the energy fed into the grid on the basis of renewable energies. They can meet this requirement by purchasing “green certificates”. As the Polish Renewable Energy Legislation is being changed, the current support scheme is due to switch to auctions. All plants commissioned after the new legislation entered into force are to come under the new auction system. Operators of existing plants which feed their first electricity into the grid before the end of 2015 will be allowed to choose between the old support system or the new model.