Offshore on the Polish sea is a great opportunity for the Polish ecology, energy and economy. Firstly, it affects the decarbonisation of the energy sector in our country, secondly, in the whole process of creating wind farms, and later functioning, we involve local companies that provide new jobs.
What is Inhalt lokale?
According to the sectoral agreement signed in 2021, this is “the participation of entrepreneurs based in Poland or foreign entrepreneurs having a branch or representative office in the territory of the Republic of Poland and carrying out production or service activities in the territory of the Republic of Poland, forming a supply chain in the execution of orders for the purposes of construction and operation of the IMF in the Polish exclusive economic zone”. This means that Polish and foreign companies that operate in Poland and are involved in supplies and services for offshore wind energy will be involved in the Polish offshore. In practice, this applies to all stages of construction and operation of offshore wind farms; companies providing equipment, components and services, e.g. the manufacture of foundations, cables, turbines, transportation, assembly, servicing. For Inhalt lokale We can also consider jobs related to administration and office work (HR and recruitment, accounting services, etc.) as long as they are obviously related to offshore.
The document assumes that in The first phase of offshore wind energy development, covering projects with a total capacity of 5.9 GW, participation of Polish companies in the supply chain (the so-called Inhalt lokale) will amount to at least 20-30%. This applies to all stages of wind farms — from preparation, through construction, to their operation.
IN The next stage, covering farms built by 2030 under the auction system, this share is expected to increase to 45%. However, for projects implemented after 2030 Local content is expected to reach 50%. Despite the fact that the document is a set of important guidelines, it does not yet have legal force, which means that the assumptions of the agreement require verification of reality.
Supply chain - as many Polish companies as possible
For the Polish offshore wind energy industry, it is important to ensure the presence of Polish companies in the supply chain and time plays a key role here. It matters how quickly the first offshore projects in Poland will be implemented, because previous tenders were based on proven supplies (at the beginning, suppliers with extensive experience, often foreign companies, were recruited to speed up and streamline the process). Today, however, we need more Polish companies in deliveries, although they will continue to compete with international players. What makes it difficult for local companies to enter the supply chain is, among others, the advantage of the largest developers who are engaged in the construction of wind farms. Developers, ordering components in bulk for many projects at once, negotiate better prices and conditions and hinder the entry of smaller, local companies into this market. Our supply chain is less developed and in order for companies to find themselves in the offshore sector they need to grow, otherwise companies such as Orlen (one of the domestic energy companies) will have difficulty building their own wind farms, because they will have to rely mainly on foreign suppliers, which may be more expensive and less beneficial for the Polish economy. PIMEW points out that The share of local content in offshore will grow, among others thanks to new factories in Poland. The most important industrial investments in Poland include:
- Baltic Towers (Gdansk) — production of wind towers, start in 2025
- Windar Renovables (Szczecin) — production of towers and foundations, starting in 2026.
- Vest (Szczecin) — production of gondolas (already started) and shovels (from 2026)
In addition, infrastructure is also being developed - installation ports are being built in Świnoujście and Gdańsk and maintenance services for MEW are being developed.
It is worth remembering about the energy potential of the Baltic Sea - currently about 18 GW is planned, and the maximum can be up to twice as much. if the full potential of the MEW is used, it can cover up to 57% of Poland's electricity demand.
Jobs in offshore
Offshore and related local content is also the potential for new jobs in various industries; from wind energy to administration and transport.
To 2030 The MEW sector can create from 39,000 to 63,000 jobs, including 13-21 thousand directly in offshore and 10-17 thousand in related sectors. You can find jobs and articles from the offshore industry on our Jobs Door page:)
