PGE is the leader in onshore wind energy. But we are not stopping. We are striving to make optimal use of this technology also on the sites of our current conventional power plants.
Objective set in the strategy:
At the end of 2021, PGE Group had 17 wind farms with a total capacity of 688 MW. By implementing our strategy, we aim to reach approx. 1,700 MW of installed capacity in 2030. This will be achieved through our own projects but also via acquisitions of operational wind farms and projects at the building permit stage or repowering of existing assets.
In June 2021, we finalised the acquisition of three onshore wind farms with a capacity of 84.2 MW. For PGE Group, this acquisition means an increase in installed capacity from 688 MW to 772 MW of onshore technology and an increase in market share from 9.6% to 10.8% (according to data from the Energy Market Agency, installed capacity of wind farms at the end of 2021 was close to 7,117 MW).
The farms acquired by our Group are located in three different voivodeships: the Kujawsko-Pomorskie voivodeship (36.9 MW WF Radzyń), the Łódzkie voivodeship (22 MW WF Ścieki) and the Wielkopolskie voivodeship (25.3 MW WF Jóźwin). This amounts to a total of 32 turbines with an overall capacity of 84.2 MW and an average annual production of 240,000 MWh, making it possible to supply electricity to 120,000 households, i.e. a city the size of Lublin. The farms have long-term contracts for the purchase of green electricity by external customers, which partially secure the volumes produced until as late as 2030. They will benefit from a support scheme in the form of green certificates until around 2030.
These farms are characterised by high productivity, in particular the Radzyń site, whose net capacity utilisation of over 3,400 full load hours (FLH) is close to the values achieved by offshore wind farms. In addition, the Ścieki farm is located in the immediate vicinity of the Skoczykłody wind farm acquired by PGE in 2020, which will generate additional synergies in their operation within the Group.
This is the beginning of investment plans on the way to achieving the objective set out in the strategy. We will be pursuing investments in two tracks. On the one hand, we intend to build new power plants and, on the other, to acquire ready-made projects (we are analysing further acquisition projects with a total capacity of around 100 MW). In the first case, the planned amendment to the so-called Distance Act will greatly facilitate this. It will allow us to launch investments that have been frozen so far. PGE owns approx. 150 MW of capacity in such projects in very good locations, most of which are located in the Pomorskie and Zachodniopomorskie voivodeships.
The draft amendment to the Distance Act, adopted by the government on July 5, 2022, allows for a new wind turbine to be built at a distance from an existing residential building that is less than the 10H rule, but not less than 500 metres. Currently, such a power plant cannot be erected at a distance of less than 10 times the height of the planned wind turbine. The next step will be to start work in the parliamentary committee (as of the date of publication of the integrated report).