Chemicals maker Evonik signs PPA for 100 MW of offshore wind

Evonik Industries AG (ETR:EVK) has agreed to procure 100 MW of green electricity from the 900-MW He Dreiht wind project in the North Sea, currently under development, as the German specialty chemicals company seeks to decarbonise its European operations.

The contracted electricity will be supplied under a power purchase agreement (PPA) with German electric utility EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (ETR:EBK) for a period of 15 years, starting in 2026.

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The deal will provide Evonik with enough power to cover about 25% of the electricity consumption of its European operations.

"The green electricity from the new offshore wind farm is a very important lever for our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions," says Thomas Wessel, responsible for sustainability on Evonik's executive board.

The PPA with EnBW will boost the share of renewable energy in Evonik's externally purchased electricity worldwide to over 40% from 27%. It will also reduce its Scope 2 emissions by 100,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

In addition, the Essen-based chemicals maker plans more deals to offtake green electricity directly from producers in order to increase the company's share of renewable energy.

The He Dreiht wind farm will be built in German waters some 90 km (55.92 mi) northwest of the island of Borkum. The 15-MW turbines are set to start producing electricity in 2025. The investment decision is expected in 2023.

At the end of 2021, EnBW signed a PPA with the operator of the Frankfurt Airport, Fraport AG (ETR:FRA), for 85 MW of He Dreiht's capacity.