Thursday 5 December 2019

Covestro inks ‘world’s largest’ offshore wind PPA with Ørsted

Polymer materials manufacturer Covestro has signed what is claimed to be the world’s largest 10-year power purchase agreement with Ørsted to buy electricity from a planned offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.

The wind farm consists of three offshore projects which were originally awarded to Ørsted in the 2017 and 2018 auctions under the names of Borkum Riffgrund West 1 (420MW), Borkum Riffgrund West 2 (240MW) and OWP West (240MW).

They were renamed in September this year and will be built as one joint project under the Borkum Riffgrund 3 name.

Dr Markus Steilemann, CEO of Covestro said: “By purchasing green electricity, we are underpinning our comprehensive sustainability strategy and preparing ourselves for the expected rise in energy prices and CO2 costs. We assume that this will enable us to inspire and motivate our customers and corresponding value chains towards sustainable industrial production.

“At the same time, we also hope that the co-operation with Ørsted will stimulate the accelerated expansion of renewable energy in Germany. Without green electricity, the chemical industry but also industry as a whole, cannot make its contribution to ensuring that Germany becomes largely greenhouse gas-neutral by the middle of the century, as specified in the climate protection plan.”