Ustka meeting with residents about offshore wind projects Bałtyk II and Bałtyk III

Dozens of people, mainly residents of the Ustka municipality and city and the Słupsk municipality, came to the City Hall in Ustka, where the meeting was held on March 23, 2023. Representatives of the companies talked about the planned offshore wind farms Bałtyk II and Bałtyk III with a total capacity of 1440 MW, which will be located at the level of Łeba in the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile, transmission infrastructure for green power plants will be built near Ustka.

Andrzej Popadiuk from Equinor presented the current scope of work in progress and the timetable for the projects. He also talked about the recently completed geotechnical and geophysical surveys of the bottom of the Baltic Sea, which were carried out for almost eight months along a stretch of more than a thousand kilometers by 10 specialized research units. The research work, carried out, among other places, at the height of Ustka, will make it possible to design the optimal route of the export cable and the place where it will connect to the onshore transmission infrastructure.  The results of the surveys, as well as the selected trenchless cable routing method, will minimize the environmental impact of the investment and protect unique water and land ecosystems.

Łukasz Piotrowicz from Polenergia presented details of the onshore connection infrastructure. used to derive power from wind farms. The cables will run underground through the villages of Lędowo, Pęplino and Duninowo in the municipality of Ustka, and Bruskowo Wielkie, Bruskowo Małe, Wielichowo and Wierzbięcin in the municipality of Słupsk. The wind farms will be connected to the existing substation of Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne in Wierzbięcin, in the Słupsk municipality. The total length of the cable in the onshore part will be about 14 km. Investors have already completed surveys of the site in Lędowo, where the submarine cable will connect to the onshore cable, and have carried out survey work along almost the entire onshore route of the cable. Several boreholes and soundings remain to be completed in the immediate vicinity of the Wierzbiecin station.

Representatives of the investors also answered residents’ questions about the benefits for Pomerania and the city, educational and professional opportunities, how to dispose of the farms at the end of their useful life, the impact of wind farms on human and animal health, and surveys of the bottom of the Baltic Sea for hazardous substances from shipwrecks sunk during World War II. Employees of Equinor and Polenergia also informed residents how they can contact the investors, how to submit requests and comments. According to information gathered during the meeting, most of its participants see offshore wind energy as an opportunity for the development of the Pomeranian region.

The meeting was held as part of an ongoing dialogue conducted by Equinor and Polenergia with the local community. The last one was held in December 2022 at the Ustka Municipality Office. As part of the local information point, the investors organize cyclical visits to stay in touch with residents and ensure that they have access to up-to-date information on projects under construction.  The next meeting will be held before the vacations.