ACCIONA Energía and SSE Renewables have agreed to explore offshore wind opportunities in Poland as the country seeks to progress the deployment of around 6GW of offshore wind energy by the end of the decade. For that purpose, both companies, who are already cooperating on the exploration of offshore wind opportunities in Spain and Portugal, have now signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to formalize a 50/50 joint venture for the Polish market.
Poland has set a target of generating at least 23% of its gross energy consumption from renewable sources by 2030, and at least 28.5% by 2040. The development of offshore wind energy is one of the key elements for Poland to achieve these goals, with the country setting ambitious targets of 5.9GW of offshore wind energy installed by 2030, and 11GW installed by 2040.
Currently, Poland’s Government is finalizing the regulatory framework for awarding Offshore Location Licenses (OLL) for the allocation of development rights for offshore wind farms. ACCIONA Energía and SSE Renewables aim to jointly participate in the country’s awarding procedure, creating a solid alliance committed to the development of the offshore wind market in Poland.
The creation of the Polish joint venture follows the announcement earlier this year that ACCIONA Energía and SSE Renewables would work together to explore offshore wind opportunities in Spain and Portugal. Both partners have also recently signed a separate Memorandum of Understanding to further progress their co-development ambitions in those markets.
ACCIONA Energía is very active in Poland’s renewable energy market, where it already owns and locally operates more than 100MW of onshore wind generation assets alongside a development pipeline of new projects.
SSE Renewables is leading the construction of more offshore wind energy than any other company in the world right now. This includes building the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea, a joint venture with Equinor and Eni, which is part of the company’s wider 7GW development pipeline of in-construction and consented offshore wind projects.
Rafael Mateo, CEO of ACCIONA Energía, said: “We are very satisfied with the joint work we are carrying out with SSE Renewables. We have complementary strengths and a common vision which is enabling us to move forward quickly in the Spanish and Portuguese markets. Poland is a promising country for offshore wind development in which ACCIONA Energía has an established presence of over 15 years, with local teams and good knowledge of the market. We own and operate more than 100MW of onshore wind assets in Poland with a solid pipeline in which we are actively working.”
Jim Smith, Managing Director of SSE Renewables said: “I am delighted to expand our cooperation with ACCIONA Energía and, in doing so, to now also include offshore wind exploration in Poland alongside Spain and Portugal in our co-development plans with our partner. There are exciting developments in the Polish offshore wind sector which is very much up and running, with a clear target for 2030 and big ambition out to 2040 and beyond. At SSE Renewables we will bring our track record as one of the world’s leading offshore wind developers to this partnership with ACCIONA Energía to build a strong wind energy pipeline beyond the UK and Ireland.”
ACCIONA Energía is the largest 100% renewable energy company with no fossil legacy in the world. It has 11GW of renewable energy in 16 countries. With 30 years of experience, ACCIONA Energía offers a complete portfolio of tailor-made energy solutions for its corporate and institutional clients to meet their decarbonization goals. ACCIONA Energía is committed to the highest environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) standards. ACCIONA S.A., a leading global company in the provision of regenerative solutions for a decarbonized economy, is the reference shareholder of ACCIONA Energía.
SSE Renewables is a leading developer, owner and operator of renewable energy across the UK and Ireland, with a portfolio of around 4GW of onshore wind, offshore wind and hydro. Part of the FTSE-listed SSE plc, its strategy is to drive the transition to a net zero future through the world-class development, construction and operation of renewable energy assets.
SSE Renewables is leading the construction of more offshore wind energy than any other company in the world right now. It is currently constructing the world’s largest offshore wind farm, the 3.6GW Dogger Bank Wind Farm in the North Sea, a joint venture with Equinor and Eni, as well as Scotland’s largest offshore wind farm, the 1.1GW Seagreen Offshore Wind Farm in the Firth of Forth, which is a joint venture with TotalEnergies. It also has the largest offshore wind development pipeline across the UK, Ireland at around 7GW, of which around 1.5GW is already in construction, and nearly 800MW is fully consented.
SSE Renewables owns nearly 2GW of operational onshore wind capacity with a development pipeline of over 1GW under development. Its 1,459MW hydro portfolio includes 300MW of pumped storage and 750MW of flexible hydro. Its operational offshore wind portfolio consists of 487MW across two offshore joint venture sites, Beatrice and Greater Gabbard, both of which it operates on behalf of its asset partners.
SSE is a Principal Partner to the UK Government in the run up to and during the COP26 UN climate summit in November 2021.
