Equinor Launches Test Production at 53 MW Solar Park in Poland

Norwegian energy company Equinor ASA said it has started test production at its third solar farm in Poland, the 53MW Lipno plant located in the Wielkopolskie province in the central part of the country.

The company now has about 200MW of onshore renewables capacity in Poland across three solar farms and one wind farm.

Lipno was developed and will be operated by Polish firm Wento, which Equinor acquired along with a 1.6-GW pipeline of solar projects in 2021. Besides a 200-MW operating portfolio, Wento has now doubled its project pipeline to over 3 GW, which also includes battery storage. Equinor said that earlier in 2024 Wento secured four battery storage projects totalling 400 MW/1.6 GWh in the Polish Capacity Market Auction, with final investment decisions for these projects expected in the next years.

“Wento’s journey showcases how we leverage our investments in local development companies to build a material and profitable onshore renewables business in select markets,” said Anders Bade, senior vice president for onshore and markets within Renewables at Equinor.

Danske Commodities, an energy trading house owned by Equinor, has inked a balancing agreement with the Lipno solar plant and will be in charge of commercialising its electricity in the Polish power market.

Danske Commodities, which has almost 15 years of power trading experience in Poland, provides route-to-market for Wento’s assets. Currently, the trading house manages a contract portfolio of over 10 GW renewables in Europe.

In Poland, Equinor is also developing offshore wind in partnership with Polenergia.