Bearing in mind the events that took place in September this year in the Baltic Sea (in close proximity to the Polish Exclusive Economic Zone), i.e. the confirmed sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines, as well as the latest Polish Wind Energy Association (PWEA) calculations included in the report “The Potential of Offshore Wind Energy in Poland”, stating that by 2040, by using the total estimated potential of the Polish part of the Baltic Sea, offshore wind energy could meet up to 57% of the total demand for electricity in Poland, it can be successfully concluded that our country’s energy security will be largely based on offshore renewable energy installations, which will be vulnerable to various threats and, as yet, almost entirely unprotected. In order to cope with the growing challenges and threats, in the marine domain (both the water column and its lower hemisphere), which is difficult to monitor and exercise effective protection in, it is necessary to be aware of the scale of possible threats and to prepare an appropriate response strategy. The lack of an official definition of “offshore wind” in Polish maritime areas is not a reason not to prepare a counter-response to the possible risks during the more than 30 years of exploitation (construction, operation and decommissioning phases). The protection of this infrastructure, in view of its strategic importance for the Polish energy sector and thus for the Polish economy and its competitiveness, should be considered through the prism of Polish legislation and the guidelines from the Government Security Centre.
Cmdr Lt. M.Sc. Tomasz CHYŁA, senior lecturer at the Department of Command and Maritime Operations at the Bohaterów Westerplatte Naval Academy in Gdynia, expert at the Ignacy Łukasiewicz Institute for Energy Policy in Rzeszów.
