BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 18. Norway-based Equinor has commenced test production at its third solar plant in Poland, named Lipno, boosting the company’s onshore renewables capacity in the country to approximately 200 MW, Trend reports via Equinor.
Located in the Wielkopolskie province in central Poland, the 53 MW Lipno solar plant was developed and will be operated by Wento, a 100% subsidiary of Equinor. Equinor acquired Wento in 2021, along with its 1.6 GW pipeline of solar projects. In the three years since the acquisition, Wento has evolved from a small-scale solar developer into a multi-tech power producer. It now operates three solar plants and one onshore wind park in Poland, achieving a total capacity of around 200 MW.
The combined annual production from Wento's portfolio is estimated to be approximately 280 GWh, which is sufficient to power around 140,000 Polish households.
Equinor's energy trading arm, Danske Commodities, has signed a balancing agreement with the Lipno solar plant and will handle the commercialization of the produced power in the Polish market.
Additionally, earlier this year, Wento secured a win in the Polish Capacity Market Auction with four battery storage projects totaling about 400 MW/1.6 GWh. Final investment decisions for these projects are anticipated in the coming years. The implementation of battery storage systems is critical for maintaining grid stability as Poland increases its share of renewable energy.
Beyond its investments in onshore renewables, Equinor is actively developing three large-scale offshore wind projects—Bałtyk I, Bałtyk II, and Bałtyk III—in collaboration with Polenergia. Equinor is also supplying natural gas from the Norwegian Continental Shelf to Poland via the Baltic Pipe.