The state assets ministry, and the bank BGK announced on Tuesday that Poland will launch a program worth nearly 5 billion euros ($5,46 billion), financed by the European Union recovery funds. This programme will provide loans to the builders of offshore wind farm on the Baltic Sea.

The developers, including the consortiums of Polish utility PGE and Orsted as well as refiner Orlen's and Northland Power, plan to build 5,9 gigawatts (GW) offshore wind capacity by 2020.

The ministry released a statement saying that the start of the financing programme was a result of an agreement reached between the Ministry and BGK. It is one of the key milestones in the National Recovery Plan.

The statement stated that loans will be granted for projects with a minimum of 300 megawatts and would not require approval from the European Commission. ($1 = 0.9156 euros) (Reporting by Marek Strzelecki Editing by Tomasz Janowski)

(source: Reuters)