SPÓŁKA
Biały Bór Wind Farm Sp. z o.o. (BBFW), headquartered in Gdansk, was established to develop and operate the Bialy Bór Wind Farm in the municipality of Bialy Bór, district of Szczecinek. The majority shareholder of the company is the French investment fund Mirova, the other shareholder is the Spanish Uriel Capital Group.
PROJECT
The Bialy Bor Wind Farm consists of 42 Vestas V126 wind turbines with a capacity of 3.45MW each. The turbines have a height to rotor HH of 117m and a propeller span of 126m, giving a total height of 180m. The total power of the plant is 144.9MW. The power of the power plant is led out via an underground 30kV medium voltage cable line with a length of about 42km to the subscriber 30/110kV GPO BB substation located near l village of Biala. The GPO is equipped with two 30/110kV transformers of 85MVA each, through which the generated power is supplied to the power grid via a subscriber 110kV cable line of 30km length connecting GPO BB with the 400/220/110kV Żydowo-Kierzkowo substation (SE ZDK) owned by PSE. The total construction cost will exceed PLN 760 million net. During the planned 30-year operation period, each year the farm will generate more than 400GWh of electricity, which will be enough to power more than 100,000 households and contribute to reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by more than 300,000 tons.
HISTORY
Work on the Bialy Bor WF project began in 2006, and in 2010 the Municipality of Bialy Bor enacted a Local Land Use Plan allowing the construction of 65 wind power plants with a capacity of up to 5MW and a height of up to 190m in the vicinity of the villages of Bialy, Biskupice, Stepien, Drzonowo, Swierszczewo, Przybrda. In November 2011, the project received a Decision on environmental conditions. Ultimately, the project envisages the construction of 42 wind turbines. Due to its size, the project was divided into 3 stages covered by separate construction permits. The first permit for the construction of one turbine together with a GPO substation and a high-voltage cable line was obtained in January 2014, another for the construction of 30 turbines with infrastructure in August of the same year. The last permit for the construction of 11 turbines with accompanying infrastructure was obtained by the project in February 2015. The investor began construction in January 2017 – preparatory work, surveying of the site, but due to legislative reasons (the Distance Law, the RES Law) the construction work did not start. The investor was obliged by the legislative changes introduced to participate in the Auction organized by the Energy Regulatory Office. The project took off in the first auction organized in 2018, however, only participation in the second auction organized in December 2019 was successful and the project could be resumed. In late May/early June 2020, Biały Bór Wind Farma signed a contract with Vestas Poland Sp. z o.o. for the supply, installation and commissioning of 42 wind turbines, as well as a contract for construction and energy works related to the farm’s infrastructure with a consortium of companies PBDI S.A. (now ONDE S.A.) and ERBUD S.A.. Delivery of the turbines is scheduled for July-October 2021, construction works began in October 2020.
BENEFITS FOR THE MUNICIPALITY AND RESIDENTS
Every year, BBFW will pay about PLN 3 million in property tax to the Municipality. This means that over the period of operation, more than PLN 90 million will flow into the Municipality’s coffers. Regardless of this, BBFW has entered into an Agreement and a Memorandum of Understanding with the Municipality to carry out compensation investments in the villages of Biala, Biskupice, Stepien, Drzonowo, Swierszczewo, and Przybrda. Under the Agreement, BBFW will carry out investments in the form of village day care centers, playgrounds, outdoor gyms, develop areas around ponds, and modernize several internal roads. Under the Agreement, the BBFW has also purchased a fire truck for the Drzonowo TSO, along with equipment. As part of the Agreement, windows will be replaced and replaced with 3-pane windows in more than 50 residential units to make their residents more comfortable. The total value of the compensatory investments is more than PLN 3.7 million. In addition, BBFW has pledged to allocate an additional amount of PLN 1.5 million for further investments every 5 years during the period of operation (30 years). BBFW has also signed an agreement with the County Road Administration in Szczecinek, under which it will rebuild County Road 1272Z on a section of about 3.6km from Biały Bor to Biskupice. The reconstruction will include the construction of a new asphalt surface, along with the widening of the road from 3.5m to 5.5m, the construction of road shoulders on both sides and a technological canal for future installations. The value of the work is estimated at more than PLN 5 million. Currently, the decision on environmental conditions is being obtained at the beginning of 2022 it is expected to obtain a construction permit. The work is expected to start in February 2022, and is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2022.