IN Brief:
- Ørsted and PGE have started major offshore construction on the 1.5GW Baltica 2 wind farm.
- Van Oord is installing 111 monopiles, including 107 turbine foundations and four offshore substation foundations.
- The Polish Baltic Sea project is scheduled for full operation in 2027 and will use Siemens Gamesa 14MW turbines.
Ørsted and PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna have started major offshore construction on the 1.5GW Baltica 2 offshore wind farm, with the first monopile foundations installed in the Polish Baltic Sea.
Van Oord is carrying out the offshore installation campaign using the vessels Aeolus and Svanen. The programme will install 111 monopiles in total, comprising 107 turbine foundations and four offshore substation foundations. Installation work is scheduled to continue until the fourth quarter of 2026.
The monopiles are being supplied by EEW and Steelwind, with secondary steel supplied by Baltic Industry Group and Smulders. Each monopile is approximately 100 metres long, measures more than 10 metres in diameter, and weighs around 1,500 tonnes. The project will use 107 Siemens Gamesa 14MW turbines, with turbine installation to be carried out by Cadeler and Fred. Olsen Windcarrier.
Baltica 2 is located around 40 kilometres off the Polish coast near Ustka. The project secured a 25-year inflation-protected Contract for Difference with the Polish state in 2021, and Ørsted and PGE took the final investment decision in January 2025. Full operation is scheduled for 2027.
Foundation installation moves the project into the marine construction phase, where fabrication sequencing, vessel availability, weather windows, port logistics, seabed conditions, cable planning, and grid-interface preparation have to remain aligned. Offshore wind projects can be commercially advanced for years, but the move from contract structure to installed steel is the point at which the delivery chain becomes fully visible.
The four offshore substation foundations are a significant part of the scope. Turbine foundations tend to dominate construction imagery, yet substations and export infrastructure determine how offshore generation is collected, transformed, protected, controlled, and delivered to the onshore grid. The substation foundations therefore sit at the electrical centre of the project rather than as secondary marine works.
Baltica 2 also shows the industrial scale now required for European offshore wind. A 1.5GW project draws together steel fabrication, heavy-lift installation vessels, turbine manufacturing, array cables, export systems, offshore substations, onshore grid works, commissioning teams, port infrastructure, and long-term operations planning. Each package has its own constraints, but the construction programme depends on all of them progressing in sequence.
Poland’s offshore wind sector is now moving from policy ambition into physical delivery. The Baltic Sea pipeline is central to the country’s power-sector transition, with offshore generation expected to reduce reliance on coal-fired power and strengthen domestic renewable supply. Grid integration will remain a substantial part of that transition, as large offshore projects require connection infrastructure capable of handling concentrated generation far from some demand centres.
Germany’s offshore buildout offers a close comparison. RWE’s installation of Nordseecluster A offshore substations recently showed how electrical infrastructure milestones define the shift from project development into operational delivery. Baltica 2 is now entering the same construction stage, with foundations, offshore substations, turbines, export systems, and onshore grid readiness forming one connected programme.
Supply chain pressure remains a defining feature of the offshore market. Foundation fabrication slots, installation vessels, high-voltage equipment, export cables, substations, and specialist marine engineering capacity are being stretched by multiple national offshore programmes. Projects with secured revenue support, final investment decision, contracted suppliers, and active installation campaigns are better positioned than schemes still competing for future delivery capacity.
The 14MW turbine platform also shapes the engineering profile of the project. Larger turbines reduce the number of machines needed for a given capacity, while increasing the load on foundations, lifting operations, installation vessels, array systems, and maintenance planning. Fewer turbines can simplify parts of the balance of plant, but each unit carries greater output and higher consequences for component availability and service planning.
Baltica 2’s first foundation installation starts the physical buildout of one of Poland’s most important new generation assets. The next milestones will centre on completion of monopile installation, offshore substation progress, cable works, turbine installation, commissioning, and readiness of the onshore network to receive the project’s output.
