Poland: InvestEU - EIB supports one of the world’s largest wind farms with €610 million in financing

• Project to be developed on the Baltic Sea by Baltic Power, with EIB financing backed by InvestEU
• Poland joins Denmark, Germany in harvesting the clean energy potential of Baltic Sea basin
• Wind farm to be completed in 2026, generating over 1.1GW of clean energy

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed an agreement to co-finance the construction of the first offshore windfarm in Poland and one of the largest ones in the world, with a loan of up to €610 million. The project will be built by a consortium led by Baltic Power sp. z o.o.. This flagship investment will help accelerate Poland's decarbonization, boost energy security. €350 million of this investment are backed by the InvestEU programme, which aims to mobilise investment for EU policy priorities, including the green transition.

The project is of strategic importance and will also contribute to the objectives of the REPowerEU Plan, by rolling out clean energy capacity to support EU's energy independence and its security of supply. Speeding up the green transition and promoting investment in renewable energy is one of the priorities of the REPowerEU Plan also promoted and supported by the EIB Group.

"Financing for Baltic Power will support the first offshore wind farm project in Poland and will certainly open the way for the green transformation and other future offshore wind energy projects." EIB Vice-President prof. Teresa Czerwińska said. "This investment will not only support the transformation of the Polish energy sector, it will contribute to the creation of new jobs and strengthen economic development. Thanks to this financing, one of the largest wind farms in the world will be built and Poland will join the countries investing in renewable energy sources in the Baltic Sea."

The Baltic Power offshore windfarm operation will be the EIB's first offshore wind financing in Poland and the first offshore windfarm to reach financial close under the new Polish Offshore Wind Contracts for Difference (CfD) regulatory regime. It is expected to be completed by end of the second quarter of 2026. The project consists of 76 wind turbines, foundations, two offshore substations and one onshore substation, four export cables and inter array cables, having an overall installed capacity of approximately 1,140 MW. It will be located 23 km to the north of the Polish coastline within the exclusive economic zone of Poland.

With the development of this project Poland will join Germany and Denmark in the group of EU countries which have been successfully operating offshore wind in the Baltic Sea basin.

Baltic Power is a company owned by PKN ORLEN (51% of ownership) and Northland Power (49% of ownership) and is solely dedicated to developing this wind farm' project. EIB provides a direct loan to the project company and in addition provides an intermediated tranche to the Polish National Promotional Bank, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego to on-lend to the project.

"As a development bank, we have been involved in financing Poland's energy transition for years. Last year alone, we allocated PLN 100 billion to support the domestic low- and zero-emission energy sector. We see potential in improving Poland's energy mix, among others: in the development of offshore wind energy. That is why we decided to co-finance the construction of the first Polish wind farm in the Baltic Sea - one of the largest investments of this type in the world, which has entered the implementation phase. Such an investment is an impulse for the domestic industry and an opportunity for Polish entrepreneurs," said Marek Tomczuk, member of the management board, BGK.

PKN ORLEN is the largest and most modern multi-utility conglomerate in Central Europe, operating in the region but also in international markets. Northland Power is an independent power producer founded in 1987 and listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Northland Power owns and manages a diversified generation mix of clean and renewable energy sources.

"Today's announcement is a major achievement for Northland, our partners and the Baltic Power project," said Mike Crawley, President and Chief Executive Officer of Northland. "This milestone demonstrates the support from the global financial community and reflects their confidence in Northland and our ability to develop, procure, construct and finance large and complex offshore wind projects. Despite the recent challenges for the offshore wind sector in some markets, Northland continues to find a way to advance large-scale offshore wind projects with attractive economics."

'We are in the final stages of preparing a large-scale project that will significantly change Poland's energy mix. Our robust financial footing and extensive international experience in managing large-scale projects equip us to handle this process effectively. Despite the highly dynamic environment, we are on track with the Baltic Power project's preparation, with the goal of providing clean energy to more than 1.5 million households as early as 2026. Securing financing for the project demonstrates that the financial markets also have a positive view of ORLEN's strategic investments through 2030,' noted Daniel Obajtek, President of the PKN ORLEN Management Board.

The EIB Group in 2022 committed globally €20.86 billion to support sustainable development of the energy sources. In Poland this financing reached €996 million and earmarked a total of €3.25 billion between 2018 and 2022 to assist the transformation of Poland's energy sector.

Background information

The EIB Group is the EU's long-term financing institution, owned by its member states. It comprises of the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Investment Fund (EIF). We finance sound investments that contribute to EU policy goals, including social and territorial cohesion, and the just transition to climate neutrality.

The EIB was the first multilateral development bank to end support for fossil fuels and has committed to support €1 trillion in climate investment this decade. Over half of the EIB Group's lending in 2022 was devoted to climate and environmental sustainability projects, while almost half of the EIB's financing inside the EU was signed for projects in cohesion regions, where per-capita income is lower, highlighting the Bank's commitment to equitable growth.

EIB and energy security

Over the past decade, the European Investment Bank Group has channelled more than €100 billion into the EU energy sector. These timely investments are now helping Europe weather the crisis triggered by the abrupt cut in Russian gas supplies. In 2022 the EIB has signed financial support totalling more than €17 billion for projects in energy efficiency, renewables, electricity and storage inside the European Union, thus helping strengthen the resilience of the European economy.

In July, the EIB's Board of Directors decided to raise the Group's clean energy financing volumes to unprecedented levels in support of the REPowerEU objective of phasing Europe's dependency on Russian fossil-fuel imports by fast forwarding the clean transition. An additional €45 billion will be invested over the next five years, on top of the EIB's already robust support for the energy sector in the European Union. It is estimated that the dedicated REPowerEU package will mobilise an additional €150 billion in additional investment by 2027, thus making a substantial contribution to Europe's energy independence and the EIB Group's target to mobilise €1 trillion this decade in climate financing.

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investments for the European Union's policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. The InvestEU programme brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments currently available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

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