By Robb M. Stewart

Northland Power Inc. said Friday that it agreed with PKN Orlen S.A. to buy a 49% interest in the Baltic Power offshore wind project in the Baltic Sea, boosting its offshore wind capacity in Europe.

Inclusive of the purchase price, Northland said it expects to invest about 100 million Canadian dollars (US$77.9 million) toward the Baltic Power development in 2021, some of which represents development expenditures that will be spent throughout the year.

The wind project has up to 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind generation. It is a mid-development stage project located about 23 kilometers offshore from Poland's coast in the Baltic Sea, Northland said.

The project, which secured its location permit, signed its grid connection agreement as well as filed its environmental permit in 2020.

Northland said it and PKN Orlen in partnership will co-develop Baltic Power, which is expected to secure a 25-year contract-for-difference offtake agreement. Construction activities are scheduled to start in 2023 with commercial operations expected in 2026.

The power company said that once complete, Baltic Power will substantially increase Northland's total gross offshore wind capacity in Europe up to about 2,400 megawatts.

Warsaw-listed PKN Orlen has operations in Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Slovakia and Canada.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-29-21 1047ET