Covestro, a prominent supplier of high-performance polymer materials, has signed a 10-year indexed fixed-price power purchase agreement with Ørsted to buy 100 MW of the output from the planned Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm. The array is expected to be fully commissioned in 2025, subject to Ørsted's final investment decision.
This makes Covestro, who is listed on the Frankfurt stock exchange and employs 16 800 people world-wide, the first major chemical company in Germany to sign a long-term corporate power purchase agreement from a new asset with a supplier of renewable energy.
"By purchasing green electricity, we are underpinning our comprehensive sustainability strategy and preparing ourselves for the expected rise in energy prices and CO2 costs. We assume that this will enable us to inspire and motivate our customers and corresponding value chains towards sustainable industrial production," said Covestro CEO Dr Markus Steilemann.
"At the same time, we also hope that the cooperation with Ørsted will stimulate the accelerated expansion of renewable energy in Germany," Steilemann added. "Without green electricity, the chemical industry, but also industry as a whole, cannot make its contribution to ensuring that Germany becomes largely greenhouse gas-neutral by the middle of the century, as specified in the climate protection plan."
"Our agreement with Covestro is the first tangible step to secure stable revenues for part of the power generated by Borkum Riffgrund 3 which will be built and operated without subsidies," said Martin Neubert, Executive Vice President and CEO of Ørsted Offshore.
Covestro will offtake 100 MW of the planned wind farm's 900 MW total capacity, which makes it the world's largest corporate PPA for offshore wind. The PPA will be effective from 2025.
