The Stępień solar plant in Poland. (Photo: Andrzej Matyja / WSP)
Equinor subsidiary Wento has announced that the 58MW Stępień solar plant in Poland has been completed and is ready for operation.
Stępień is located in the Braniewo municipality, part of the Warmia region in the north of Poland.
According to Equinor, it’s one of Poland’s largest solar plants, comprising more than 100,000 solar panels over an area of around 65 hectares (161 acres).
It will produce 61GWh of power per year, enough to power 31,000 Polish households.
Equinor bought the Polish solar developer Wento in 2021, taking over its pipeline of solar projects across Poland. This is the first completed solar plant following the acquisition.
Olav Kolbeinstveit, senior vice president for power and markets within Renewables at Equinor said in a statement: “With Wento, we are uniquely positioned to build a material solar portfolio in one of Europe’s most rapidly growing renewable energy markets. During the first year of our ownership, we sanctioned construction of three solar plants in Poland with a total capacity of 171MW.
“Today, we are proud to inaugurate our first solar plant Stępień, while the two other plants are expected to be ready in 2023-2024.”
Poland’s energy mix continues to include a number of conventional sources, however, the country is pushing to include more renewable energy. This is reflected in the Energy Policy of Poland until 2040, which aims to achieve 23-25GW installed renewable capacity in 2030.
“Poland is going through a major energy transition and is actively developing domestic renewable energy to increase reliable power capacity and enhance energy security. Equinor aims to contribute to Poland’s aspirations by building a broad energy offering in the country, including onshore and offshore renewables”, says Michał Jerzy Kołodziejczyk, Equinor’s country manager in Poland.
Equinor plans to secure revenues by selling the plant’s electricity via PPAs.
