Vattenfall has reached an agreement to sell a stake in the 1500MW Hollandse Kust Zuid (HKZ) offshore wind project to German chemicals giant BASF.
Vattenfall will sell BASF a 49.5% share in the offshore wind farm off the coast of the Netherlands.
The purchase price amounts to €300m and takes into account the achieved status of the project.
BASF’s total commitment amounts to around €1.6bn, including its contribution to fund the wind farm construction.
Closing of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021, subject to the approval of the relevant authorities.
Offshore construction of the wind farm will start in July 2021 and the project is expected to become fully operational in 2023.
HKZ will host 140 wind turbines and will be the largest offshore wind farm when fully operational.
It will also be the first fully merchant offshore wind farm in the world which does not receive any price subsidies for the power produced.
A significant part of the electricity production of HKZ is reserved for Vattenfall’s Dutch customers.
BASF is acquiring the electricity from the wind farm for its ownership share through a long-term power purchase agreement.
BASF’s Antwerp Verbund site will benefit from the renewable power to a “significant extent”.
The Antwerp site is the largest chemical production site in Belgium and the second largest BASF Group site worldwide.
The supply scheme to other BASF sites in Europe will depend on the further development of the respective regulation for renewable energy.
The wind farm will also support the Netherlands in reaching its target share of renewable power generation and greenhouse gas reduction targets.
BASF has more than 1500 employees in the Netherlands who develop, produce and sell products for many sectors at various locations.
BASF chairman Martin Brudermuller said: “This wind farm will be an important building block to supply our Antwerp Verbund site and other European sites with renewable electricity.
“It is the first major investment of BASF in facilities for renewable power. With this investment we are securing significant volumes of electricity from renewable sources for BASF, which is a key element of our transformation towards climate neutrality.”