Poland plans to deploy 8 GW of offshore wind by 2035

Grzegorz Tobiszowski, Poland's state secretary for energy, recently announced that by 2035, Poland's goal is to increase offshore wind capacity
by 8 GW.
The country's 2030 National Energy and Climate Plan is expected to release details
of annual capacity increases by the end of 2018.

WindEurope, the European wind power association, welcomed the news and revealed some details
of an upcoming onshore wind tender in Poland.
It said the tender would be oversubscribed and expected to average a price of €51 ($58.
4)
per MWh.
Citing a non-exhaustive survey of bidders, the wind industry body said the bid would be between
43 euros and 63 euros per megawatt hour.

"Building 1 GW of new onshore wind makes perfect economic sense for Poland, which is cheaper
than building new coal or nuclear power.
We expect prices to be cheaper than recent tenders in France and Germany," said
Pierre Tardieu, chief policy officer at WindEurope.

Tobiszowski also said there could be another round of onshore wind tenders
in the coming months.

In 2017, Poland generated more than 78% of coal, while onshore wind accounted for 8.
8%.

A significant amount of coal-fired power generation is expected to disappear
from the system over the next decade.
Offshore wind is more stable and predictable than onshore renewables and is seen as one of
the possible alternatives.

Polish power group Polska Grupa Energetyczna SA (WSE:PGE) has already carried out a number of projects
.
Monika Morawiecka, head of strategy, confirmed last month that PGE has three renewable energy projects totaling 2.
5 GW in progress, with its first project set to come online
around 2025.

"Through onshore tenders and offshore wind schemes, Poland is now sending a strong signal to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe that make economic sense for wind energy development planning," said
WindEurope's Tardieu.