Poland's Energa, PZU team up for offshore wind reliability project

Polish utility Energa, part of PKN Orlen (WSE:PKN), said that its generation arm and a unit of local insurer PZU (WSE:PZU) will test digital tools for predicting the operation of offshore wind turbines in different conditions in order to identify and prevent risks.

The pilot project will be carried out for nearly two years on an existing onshore wind farm owned by the utility's unit Energa Wytwarzanie, "where the conditions are as close as possible to those that will prevail at sea," Energa said in a press release on Tuesday.

The utility pointed out that it is the first project in Poland for a wind farm developer and an insurer to test together digital solutions for the operation of offshore wind farms. Energa added that the insurer's unit, PZU Lab, has extensive experience in monitoring and predicting failures as well as the work efficiency of industrial equipment.

The data collected by the digital simulator will not only enable the assessment of the impact of different factors on the performance of wind farms and separate turbines in real time but will also allow the development of countermeasures to optimise their operation and reduce maintenance costs.

"Poland's energy security requires the most stable energy supplies possible," Energa noted, adding that the safe operation of the renewable sources themselves is as important as the units balancing their generation.

Energa Wytwarzanie and PZU Lab plan another two pilot projects related to offshore wind. The purpose of the next one will be to develop a tool to balance offshore electricity production in relation to power grid load and demand. The aim of the third is a prototype device for identifying potential oil contamination from wind turbines and ships servicing them.

The company stressed that in PKN Orlen group's 2030 strategy offshore wind is central to developing modern energy. By the end of the decade the oil and gas major plans to have 9 GW of installed capacity in renewable sources, including offshore wind farms.

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