EnBW has signed a second purchase agreement with Evonik, covering 50MW of capacity from the 900MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm, off Germany.
The German chemicals producer has extended its cooperation with EnBW so that its power needs from the wind farm correspond with 150MW of capacity.
A first power purchase agreement (PPA) covering 100MW was signed last year and both PPAs are for 15 years.
As a result, Evonik should be able to cover more than a third of its power requirements in Europe from 2026 onwards.
He Dreiht is located 90km north-west of Borkum and around 110km west of Helgoland and is scheduled to enter operation at the end of 2025.
Turbines with an output of 15MW are being used.
EnBW is planning to make the final investment decision in the first quarter of 2023.
“Extending the cooperation with EnBW is the next step on our way to significantly reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and their price fluctuations,” said CEO of Evonik Christian Kullmann.
EnBW board member Georg Stamatelopoulos said: “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.
“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.”
At present, 27% of Evonik’s externally purchased electricity worldwide already comes from renewable sources and the two PPA tranches secured with EnBW will increase this figure to around 50%.
The cooperation will also reduce Evonik’s Scope 2 emissions – those attributable to externally purchased power – by 150,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.