IN Brief:
- Polish transmission system operator PSE has awarded contracts for a 400kV line serving Baltic Sea offshore wind projects.
- The route will run for about 125km through 18 municipalities in Pomerania, with completion planned for 2029.
- The project forms part of the transmission build-out needed to connect Poland’s offshore wind pipeline to the national grid.
Polskie Sieci Elektroenergetyczne, Poland’s transmission system operator, has awarded contracts for a 400kV transmission line designed to export power from offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.
The contracts cover construction of a line running from the Choczewo substation to a connection point on the existing Gdańsk Błonia – Grudziądz Węgrowo line. The route will run for about 125km through 18 municipalities in Pomerania and is scheduled for completion in 2029.
A consortium of SPIE Energy Poland and Elfeko will deliver part of the work, with further sections assigned to Enprom and Aldesa. Together, the contracts form part of Poland’s wider programme to reinforce the onshore grid for offshore wind power entering from the Baltic Sea.
The new line will move electricity from coastal generation zones into the Polish transmission system, creating a route from offshore wind assets to inland demand centres. That grid interface is one of the central infrastructure requirements behind Poland’s offshore wind build-out.
With a national offshore wind target of 17.9GW, Poland’s grid programme has to advance alongside marine construction. Offshore capacity can only be used fully where export systems, onshore substations, overhead lines, protection systems, and dispatch arrangements are ready to absorb and move the power. The transmission line awarded by PSE is therefore part of the core delivery chain, rather than a supporting package behind the wind farms.
The Pomeranian route also shows the scale of onshore works required behind offshore generation. Turbines, foundations, and offshore substations define the visible part of offshore wind construction, but the electrical system continues well inland. Large volumes of coastal generation require substations, high-voltage lines, compensation equipment, system protection, communications, access roads, land agreements, environmental controls, and commissioning plans.
Poland’s offshore wind programme has already moved into visible construction. Baltica 2 has begun offshore foundation installation, with 111 monopiles planned for turbine and offshore substation foundations. The 1.5GW project is scheduled for full operation in 2027 and will use Siemens Gamesa 14MW turbines.
The PSE line addresses the parallel onshore requirement. Where transmission capacity is not available in time, offshore wind output can face constraint risk, delayed energisation, or reduced system value. Across Europe, offshore wind zones, interconnectors, and national grid reinforcements are now competing for contractors, cables, steel, electrical equipment, and specialist engineering resource.
Poland’s generation mix adds another layer to the grid challenge. Offshore wind is expected to reduce reliance on coal-fired generation while adding large volumes of renewable electricity close to the northern coast. That geography requires a system historically shaped around thermal plant locations to handle concentrated renewable inflows from new coastal generation zones.
The technical requirements extend well beyond line construction. As offshore wind penetration increases, the system will need stronger forecasting, dispatch coordination, reactive power control, voltage management, and protection settings that can handle changing power flows. Offshore substations, export cables, onshore substations, and 400kV corridors all have to operate as one connected electrical system.
The 2029 completion target places the transmission project on a longer delivery curve than some offshore generation assets already under construction. That sequencing creates a delivery-management challenge, with generation, grid, and market arrangements needing to converge in time for the system to capture the full value of new offshore capacity.
For Poland, the awarded contracts move offshore wind policy further into physical infrastructure. Turbines will define installed capacity, but transmission will determine how much of that capacity can be delivered into the system when it is needed.
