First power flows from Poland's Baltic Power offshore wind farm as Tusk calls it a pillar of energy sovereignty
The first electricity from the Baltic Power offshore wind farm, a 1.2 GW project built by Orlen and Canada's Northland Power, reached the new Choczewo substation in Pomerania on Friday. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney attended the ceremony.
First power reaches the grid
Poland's first offshore wind farm sent its initial electricity to the national grid on Friday 10 July 2026. The Baltic Power project, developed jointly by Orlen and Canadian firm Northland Power, delivered its first megawatt-hours to the newly built 400 kV Choczewo substation in Osieki Lęborskie, Pomerania. Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the milestone at a press conference at the site, stating that "the first power from the Polish offshore wind farm has just flowed." The facility has been connected to the grid and is now in the so-called First Power phase, with turbines undergoing advanced load testing.
This substation and, soon, those 76 turbines, 76 masts placed in the Baltic will be another key element of our energy security and energy sovereignty.
Scale and timeline of the project
Fifty-four of the planned 76 turbines have already been installed at sea, with the overall installation campaign exceeding 80 percent completion. The project is located approximately 23 km off the coast near Choczewo and Łeba. Full construction is expected to finish in autumn 2026, at which point the farm will reach its target capacity of 1.2 GW. That output is enough to supply over 1.5 million Polish households, covering roughly 3 percent of current national electricity demand.
- Offshore construction work begins
- First power flows to Choczewo substation; 54 of 76 turbines installed
- Construction completion expected; full 1.2 GW capacity reached
Tusk emphasised the sheer dimensions of the turbines, noting that the portion visible above water is taller than the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw (237 m). Measured from the foundation on the seabed to the tip, the structures exceed the height of Varso Tower, the tallest building in the European Union at 310 m. "When I hear these figures, I can hardly believe them," Tusk said.
Energy security and geopolitical framing
The prime minister framed the project as fundamental to Poland's independence from external pressures. He pointed to Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East as evidence that energy must be "independent of the whims of history and geopolitics."
We are building Polish security and Polish sovereignty. The whole world already knows very well, and recent wars demonstrate it with full force, that you cannot speak of security without speaking of energy security. Energy is just as important as weapons, as the army.
Tusk added that the scale of the farm makes it possible to think ambitiously about ventures needed for artificial intelligence, cyberspace and data centres.
Financing and supply-chain impact
The Choczewo substation was financed entirely from the National Recovery Plan (KPO), at a cost of approximately 530 million złoty. Construction was carried out by SPIE Energy Poland and Elfeko. The broader Baltic Power programme is part of what Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fąfara described as the largest investment programme in the history of Polish energy.
Orlen is carrying out the largest investment programme in the history of Polish energy. We will spend a total of up to 380 billion złoty on it. Once again we are showing real results. Work at sea began at the start of 2025, and today the first power reached the grid. This is the energy of tomorrow.
Fąfara stressed that the project will work for decades and will support the construction of a new sector of the Polish economy, building domestic supply chains and skills that will remain long after construction ends. Data from Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (November 2025) indicate that Poland's offshore wind supply chain could generate up to 63,000 new jobs in ports, logistics, manufacturing and servicing. Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas already employs over 2,000 people in Poland, including 650 at a nacelle and hub factory in Szczecin and 670 at a blade factory in Goleniów. Windar Renovables is building a tower factory in Szczecin that is expected to create nearly 500 jobs still in 2026.
Security investigation and attending officials
A separate report noted that the project has also faced a national-security check. Information has emerged in the public domain about activity by the Internal Security Agency (ABW) concerning one of the vessels supporting construction, following an anonymous tip-off with a suspected Russian link. The services are verifying the crew.
The ceremony at Choczewo was attended by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finance Minister Andrzej Domański, Energy Minister Miłosz Motyka, Climate and Environment Minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska, PSE CEO Grzegorz Onichimowski, Orlen CEO Ireneusz Fąfara, Baltic Power CEO Maciej Stryjecki, Northland Power CEO Christine Haley, and representatives of the regional contractors and local authorities.
