Evonik and EnBW sign another long-term purchase agreement for power supply from the “He Dreiht” offshore wind farm

Essen/Karlsruhe, Germany. Even more wind energy from the North Sea: Evonik has extended its cooperation with EnBW and signed a second power purchase agreement from the planned “He Dreiht” offshore wind farm. A first power purchase agreement (PPA) was already concluded to purchase 100 megawatts (MW) last year. The second agreement now adds a further 50 MW. As a result, the specialty chemicals company should be able to cover more than a third of its power requirements in Europe from 2026 onwards. The term of the second tranche is also 15 years.

“Extending the cooperation with EnBW is the next step on our way to significantly reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and their price fluctuations,” says Christian Kullmann, CEO of Evonik. Evonik announced the first tranche of the PPA with EnBW back in November. Further supply contracts for green electricity directly from the producer are currently in the planning stage. “We are fully determined to increase the share of green electricity in our energy mix and thus further reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” says Kullmann.

“We are building the ‘He Dreiht’ wind farm with money raised on the market rather than through state funding. Long-term power purchase agreements are the right way for us to expand renewable capacity,” explains EnBW board member Georg Stamatelopoulos. “PPAs have established themselves as a key instrument in the energy transition. It is therefore all the more important that state intervention in the market does not represent any kind of permanent solution. This could have a negative impact on the willingness to invest and hamper the further expansion of renewable capacity. We are delighted to be able to help Evonik to reduce carbon emissions with another package of offshore wind energy. By doing so, we are gradually helping to decarbonize the industrial sector,” he adds.

“Last year, we saw a significant increase in inquiries from medium-sized and large companies,” says Stamatelopoulos. “This shows that there is considerable interest among companies in using PPAs to consistently pursue their own sustainability goals. It represents a significant contribution to the energy transition and we can only achieve it together.”

“At present, 27 percent of Evonik’s externally purchased electricity worldwide already comes from renewable sources. The two PPA tranches secured with EnBW will significantly increase this figure to around 50 percent,” says Thomas Wessel, management board member responsible for sustainability at Evonik. “At the same time, the cooperation will reduce Evonik’s Scope 2 emissions, i.e., emissions attributable to externally purchased power, by 150,000 metric tons of CO2 per year,” says Wessel.

The “He Dreiht” wind farm will be built about 90 kilometers northwest of Borkum and around 110 kilometers west of Helgoland and is scheduled to enter operation at the end of 2025. In 2017, EnBW secured the contract in the first offshore tendering process in Germany with a zero-cent bid, ushering in a new trend on the offshore market. The offshore wind farm being built without state funding is currently one of Europe’s biggest energy transition projects. Turbines with an output of 15 megawatts are set to be used for the first time here. EnBW is planning to make the final investment decision in the first quarter of 2023.

Evonik is one of the world leaders in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of €15 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of €2.38 billion in 2021. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for customers. About 33,000 employees work together for a common purpose: We want to improve life today and tomorrow

With over 26,000 employees, EnBW is one of the largest energy companies in Germany and Europe. It supplies around 5.5 million customers with electricity, gas, water as well as services and products in the areas of infrastructure and energy. The expansion of renewable energies is a cornerstone of the growth strategy and a focus of investment. EnBW will invest around four billion euros in the further expansion of wind and solar energy between 2021 and 2025. By the end of 2025, more than half of the generation portfolio is set to consist of renewable energies. Furthermore, the expansion of renewable energies is an important part of EnBW’s Sustainability Agenda as the company heads towards climate neutrality by 2035. EnBW has been actively involved in PPA matters in Germany from the very beginning: In 2019, the company signed the first PPA of its kind in Germany with Energiekontor. In December 2021, it announced the first supply contract with Fraport AG for 85 megawatts of electricity from the “He Dreiht” offshore wind farm. Evonik followed in 2022 with 100 MW and Salzgitter with 50 MW.