Sif ships Baltyk 2 and 3 monopiles as Polish Baltic build gathers pace

Sif has completed the load-out of all 100 monopile foundations for the Baltyk 2 and 3 monopiles project in the Polish Baltic Sea, marking a fabrication milestone for what will be one of the largest offshore wind developments in the region.

The Dutch fabricator also manufactured 100 transition pieces for the project, which is being developed by Equinor and Polenergia. Active installation work is now under way offshore, with the Thialf heavy lift vessel, operated by Heerema Marine Contractors, carrying out monopile installation duties.

What Baltyk 2 and 3 actually involves

The scale of the undertaking is worth setting out plainly. According to Baltic Wind, Bałtyk 2 and Bałtyk 3 together comprise 100 wind turbines with a combined installed capacity of 1,440 MW. That matches the 1.44GW headline figure but grounds it: 100 turbines, each requiring one monopile and one transition piece, all now fabricated and shipped.

Baltic Wind also reports that the topside fabricated at the Smulders facility in Vlissingen, in the Netherlands, measures 51 × 38 × 43 metres, a structure the outlet describes as comparable to a 15-storey building. The physical scale of offshore wind components tends to get lost in capacity announcements; those dimensions are a useful corrective.

Timeline: first power expected as early as 2027

The project timeline has some useful precision attached to it. Polenergia states that the first energy from Bałtyk 2 and 3 is expected to flow into the grid as early as 2027, with full operations scheduled for 2028. The “as early as 2027” qualifier is worth keeping: installation work is under way but offshore wind commissioning timelines have a habit of slipping, and the project is not yet energised.

The completion of Sif’s load-out removes one significant variable. Foundation supply has been a persistent bottleneck for European offshore wind over the past several years, and clearing all 100 monopiles through the yard gates means the installation campaign no longer depends on fabrication catching up with the vessel schedule.

Bałtyk 1 sits behind it in the pipeline

Equinor and Polenergia are not stopping at Bałtyk 2 and 3. Polenergia notes that the partnership is also developing Bałtyk 1, a project with a capacity of up to 1,560 MW, located approximately 80 kilometres offshore. That pipeline, if it advances on schedule, would represent a substantial further demand signal for European monopile fabricators.

For context, the combined capacity of all three Bałtyk projects would exceed 3 GW, making the programme a cornerstone of Poland’s offshore wind ambitions. Poland is building from a low offshore base, and the Baltic is increasingly the proving ground for whether the country can hit its stated targets for offshore generation capacity.

From a supply-chain perspective, Sif completing the Bałtyk 2 and 3 monopile run also matters beyond this single contract. Monopile fabrication capacity in Europe has been stretched as developers and turbine manufacturers have scaled up to larger machines. Delivering 100 foundations and 100 transition pieces for a 1.44GW project is a data point for what European yards can now produce at volume, even if the pipeline of future projects means demand will continue to outpace current capacity for some time.

With the Thialf already active on site and all foundations now delivered, the immediate question is whether the installation campaign can maintain its pace through the remainder of the construction season and into 2027, keeping the “first power” target within reach.