EnBW has signed a 63MW power purchase agreement with materials manufacturer Covestro for electricity from the former’s 187MW Weesow-Willmersdorf in Germany.
Under this agreement the power obtained by Covestro will be deployed at its German sites in Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen for 15 years from the beginning of 2022.
The company will use the renewable energy there primarily for the production of more sustainable, mass-balanced plastics manufactured in a so-called drop-in process using alternative raw materials.
These include mass-balanced polycarbonates and mass-balanced thermoplastic polyurethanes.
Polycarbonates are used in electronics products and car headlights, among other things. While thermoplastic polyurethanes are used, for example, in household products, ski boots and industrial applications.
The EnBW-operated Weesow-Willmersdorf solar farm features 465,000 solar panels and has been fully connected to the grid since March 2021.
EnBW said that the site is currently the biggest of its kind in Germany and has been implemented without any subsidy under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act.
This is the first PPA for the solar farm and also the first PPA for solar power in Europe, the company added.
Covestro chief technology officer Klaus Schäfer said: “By sourcing solar power from EnBW’s farm, we are underlining our ambition to play a pioneering role on the road to a climate-neutral future and once again sending out a signal for the expansion of renewable energies in Germany.
“The climate-neutral transformation of the industry requires large quantities of renewable energies at internationally competitive prices.
“This enables us to further enhance the sustainability of our production processes and to help our customers reduce their carbon footprint while maintaining the same quality.”
EnBW chief operating officer generation and trading Georg Stamatelopoulos said: “We have long worked on the principle that renewable energy can hold its own on the market without subsidies.
“PPAs are an important tool for making subsidy-free generating assets commercially viable.
“They are also pivotal to the energy transition, as they help industrial consumers achieve their climate targets quickly and efficiently.
“We are delighted to be able to support Covestro’s production with our solar energy.”
Covestro has built up a portfolio of various PPAs in Germany, Belgium and China since 2019, EnBW said.