- Energa Green Development, an ORLEN Group company, has secured all permits for the first 65 MW phase of the project to construct the Mitra solar photovoltaic farm. Construction work is scheduled to start in the middle of this year. A procedure is currently under way to select the contractor. Mitra is to be built on reclaimed post-mining land in Przykona in the Province of Poznań.
According to the company’s website press release on February 13, 2023, Mitra is now the largest PV project being carried out by the ORLEN Group’s Energa. It is expected to produce enough energy to power more than 30,000 households annually. The farm will be built on land owned by Energa in the municipality of Przykona (County of Turek, Province of Poznań), reclaimed after the close-down of the Adamów lignite surface mine. The ORLEN Group’s renewable capacities currently in service and under construction will be able to supply green energy to almost 70,000 households.
– We are consistently developing state-of-the-art renewable power generation assets, supported by low-carbon gas-fired sources and small modular reactor technologies. We are already among Poland’s largest energy producers, with more than half of our output being generated from low- and zero-carbon sources. We will continue our investments in this segment as they allow us to effectively phase out fossil fuels and strengthen Poland’s energy security. The Mitra farm is a third major solar PV project implemented by Gdańsk-based Energa following its incorporation into the ORLEN Group. We are entering its next stage, which is expected to take slightly more than a year to complete once the contract with the contractor is signed – said Daniel Obajtek, PKN ORLEN’s CEO and President of the Management Board.
– The Mitra farm is the largest solar PV project implemented by Energa to date. It is, however, only a small part of the extensive plan being carried out under the ORLEN Group’s strategy. Our portfolio currently includes solar PV farms with a total installed capacity of up to 500 MW, with more projects being initiated. Those efforts will considerably enhance not only the ORLEN Group’s renewable capacity potential, but will also increase our role in transforming Poland’s electricity generation system – said Szymon Wojnicki, President of the Management Board of Energa Green Development.
Energa Green Development is now preparing to select the contractor for the project. Besides building the Mitra farm, it will be tasked with constructing the power evacuation infrastructure, i.e. the Psary collector substation, and an 11 km cable line connecting it to the Żuki distribution substation. The contractor will also be responsible for preparing the application for an operational permit for the project and for placing the project in service. In addition, the selected company will be providing maintenance services for two years after project completion.
By the end of this year, Energa is going to put two other solar PV farms into full operation. The Gryf farm, with the target installed capacity increased from 20 MW to about 26 MW, is being built in the immediate vicinity of the Przykona wind farm, on the same land where Mitra will be constructed. The other project is the Wielbark farm, which is being built in the Province of Olsztyn, with a total capacity of 62 MW. The Gryf farm has already 12 MW of power generation capacity – the remaining capacity will be available in the first half of the year following the upgrade of the Wielbark transformer.
