The European Investment Bank ( EIB ) and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development ( EBRD ) have led the financing of the second in a series of giant offshore wind farms for Poland.

The EIB signed an agreement to support Poland’s largest utility Polska Grupa Energetyczna ( PGE ) with a €400 million ( US$413.21 million ) loan towards the design and construction of Baltica 2.

Elektrownia Wiatrowa Baltica-2 is the special purpose vehicle incorporated in Poland to develop, build and operate the wind project. It is jointly owned by PGE, the largest vertically integrated Polish power utility, and Denmark's Orsted.

The EIB loan is the biggest own-resources contribution by a financial institution to the project. It is also the first part of a €1.4 billion package approved by the European Union’s climate bank to support PGE and Orsted in erecting two new, large-scale offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea.

The EBRD is lending €200 million, along with Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego ( Poland’s National Development Bank ), the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark plus a consortium of international and local commercial lenders.

Underpinned by significant EU support that includes funds from InvestEU, REPowerEU and Recovery and Resilience Facility, the strategic investment will contribute to Poland’s energy transition and security, as well as strengthening cooperation and energy security in the Baltic Sea region.

The 1.5-gigawatt Baltica 2 is due to be completed by 2027. It will comprise 107 turbines located some 40 kilometres north of Poland’s Baltic shore. Together with its sister project Baltica 3, they will have total capacity of 2.5GW and double PGE’s existing renewable energy portfolio.

In 2023, EIB and EBRD also co-financed the country’s first offshore wind farm project, Baltic Power.

The EBRD notes that, with concerns over energy security growing amid geopolitical tensions, Poland has increased its climate ambitions, pledging to generate 58% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

The growth of offshore wind energy deployment is seen as key to reducing the country’s coal-fired energy generation and meeting this target. Energy security and the climate transition also remain key priorities for the Polish government under Poland’s current rotating presidency of the European Council.

“Scaling up renewables and accelerating decarbonization of the Polish economy are key strategic priorities for the bank’s investments in Poland," says Andreea Moraru, EBRD’s head of Poland and the Baltic States. "We are delighted to support this milestone project, which will contribute to Poland and the European Union’s drive to net zero, and provide a solution to energy security concerns.”