Statkraft has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with metals recycler Umicore for output from a 97MW wind farm in Finland.
The agreement will cover part of the needs of Umicore’s site in Kokkola, where the company produces precursor cathode active materials and refines cobalt used in rechargeable batteries for electric cars.
Statkraft will provide Umicore with 60 gigawatt hours of renewable a year until 2033, certified with guarantees of origin from the Nuolivaara wind farm, in northern Finland.
The un-subsidised wind farm will consist of 17 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 96.9MW and is expected to be commissioned in 2023.
The PPA runs for a period of 10 years starting in 2024.
Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore, said: “Clean energy agreements like the one we signed with Statkraft, allow Europe’s largest cobalt refinery and state-of-the-art cathode precursor facility to produce sustainably.
“Moreover, they reduce Umicore’s scope 2 emissions as we use electricity as the main source of energy throughout our battery materials value chain, and they significantly contribute to securing our own energy supplies, at a cost competitive level, for the next decade.”
In Finland, Statkraft offers PPAs to industrial and commercial companies as well as to project developers and investors enabling the financing of new renewable power plants.
In its “Let’s go for Zero” ESG strategy, Umicore aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 for its scope 1 emissions resulting from its on-site operations, and for its scope 2 emissions, which relate to energy purchases.
As a first milestone, Umicore aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% in 2025 from the 2019 baseline.