GE Renewable Energy and PKN Orlen have signed an MoU to explore ways to work together to support the development of offshore wind projects in Poland.

The country is expected to award up to 10.9GW of offshore wind projects by 2030 and up to 28GW of offshore wind by 2050.

The agreement can help accelerate the energy transition in Poland by helping the country take full advantage of its offshore wind resources.

GE has a long history in Poland, with over 5,000 employees working in aviation, healthcare, power and GE Renewable Energy.

The company has an Engineering Design Centre with over 1,200 engineers and unique experience in executing large power projects.

GE Renewable Energy is already an active player in the Polish wind market, with over 300 onshore wind turbines delivering 900MW, with almost half of that coming online since 2018.

LM Wind Power, a GE Renewable Energy business, employs around 1,000 employees at its Goleniow onshore wind turbine blade manufacturing site.

With this new MoU, GE continues to showcase its ambition to support Poland in meeting its renewable energy goals and aims to further collaborate with local suppliers and help them develop their capacity to support the growing offshore wind industry in Poland and more broadly.

GE Renewable Energy is solidifying its position to competitively serve the growing offshore wind market with partners in the region.

GE Renewable Energy chief executive Jérôme Pécresse said: “Poland is well-positioned to use offshore wind resources to help accelerate the energy transition.

“The agreement that we are signing today charts a path to take pragmatic steps that can take full advantage of Poland substantial offshore wind resources to create win-win outcomes in terms of the environment and economic development.”

PKN ORLEN, president of the management board Daniel Obajtek, said: “We are the leader of the energy transformation in Central Europe.”

“We are implementing a strategy that assumes an increase in capacity from renewable energy sources to over 2.5GW at the end of this decade.”

“We want to achieve this level mainly by investing in offshore wind energy and, at the same time, expanding the RES portfolio with additional capacity in onshore wind farms.”