A new specialization in offshore studies at GdańskTech in cooperation with PGE | Gdańsk University of Technology

– One of the pillars of cooperation between business and science is setting new directions in education. In order to build the domestic offshore wind energy market, it is necessary to educate future experts. That is why we have started cooperation with Polish scientists and lecturers who will manage a new specialization at master's studies at Gdańsk University of Technology – said Wojciech Dąbrowski, president of the management board of PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna. – I hope that students will soon take part in internships organized by PGE, and in the future they will find a job with us and participate in the construction of the Polish offshore market - added the President of PGE.

– This is the first such specialization in Poland, which will prepare graduates for design work in the field of offshore wind energy. It fits perfectly into the current energy trends and we hope that it will be of interest to future candidates for studies – said Wojciech Litwin, PhD, Eng., professor at Gdańsk Tech, director of the Institute of Ocean Engineering and Ship Technology. – Gdańsk University of Technology, as a leading scientific and research institution in the field of ocean engineering in Poland, meets market trends and focuses on even better and more effective expansion of the knowledge and competences of its students and scientists. It was one of the arguments because of which PGE Baltica became the official patron of the studies – added prof. Litwin.

The opening of this field of studies is the result of a letter of intent that PGE signed in May 2021 with Gdańsk University of Technology, the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Gdańsk and the Danish Technical University (Danmarks Tekniske Universitet). The agreement concerns cooperation both in the field of research and education in the field of offshore wind energy. PGE Baltica is not only an industrial partner - it is also the patron of the specialization.

The studies last three semesters. The lectures will be conducted, among others, by scientists and wind energy specialists from Gdańsk Tech, IFFM PAS and DTU as well as experienced experts-practitioners from PGE Baltica. Scholarships for students, internships at PGE Baltica, study visits and trips to wind farms are just some of the planned undertakings.

This is not the first example of PGE Baltica's cooperation with Gdańsk universities. In December 2019, experts from PGE Baltica and the Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Gdańsk conducted a research project aimed at estimating the impact of slowing down the wind flow caused by large offshore wind farms in their surroundings (the so-called blockage effect). In addition, this year PGE Baltica took patronage over the postgraduate studies in Risk Management in the Offshore and Wind Energy Industry at the Gdynia Maritime University.

PGE Capital Group

PGE Polska Grupa Energetyczna is the largest electricity company and supplier of electricity and heat in Poland. Thanks to the combination of its own fuel resources and energy production, as well as the possession of distribution networks, PGE guarantees safe and stable supplies of electricity and heat to over 5 million customers. PGE Group's generation units produce nearly 40 percent of the electricity in Poland. With its 10 percent share in the renewable energy market in Poland, the PGE Group is the largest domestic producer of electricity from renewable sources. The PGE Group's Offshore program provides for the construction of the Baltica Marine Wind Farm by 2030, implemented in two stages - Baltica 2 and Baltica 3, with a total installed capacity of up to 2.5 GW. Then, after 2030, Elektrownia Wiatrowa Baltica 1 will join the Group's portfolio. According to the strategy of the PGE Group until 2030 with an outlook until 2050, the PGE Group will have up to approx. 6.5 GW of capacity in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea.