4C Offshore Empowering Intelligence

REWE Group and Ørsted sign long-term power purchase agreement

4C Offshore | Tom Russell
By: Tom Russell 20/09/2021 Ørsted
German food retailer REWE Group has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement with Ørsted to procure 100 MW of green electricity from Ørsted's Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm which is set to become operational in 2025.

The agreement with Ørsted represents REWE Group's largest renewable energy offtake agreement to date and makes REWE Group the first German food retailer to purchase electricity from an offshore wind farm in the North Sea. The 100 MW of green power from
Borkum Riffgrund 3 equals the power consumption of 1,500 REWE stores. REWE Group has a goal of becoming climate neutral by 2040.

"Our goal is to become climate neutral by 2040,"
said Lionel Souque, CEO of REWE Group. "It is obviously an ambitious goal. But it is also a goal that we will achieve. We must achieve it because energy plays a strategic role in our business: We are a green power pioneer in the German food retail sector. Our stores have been completely using power produced from renewable sources since 2008. Offshore wind energy has tremendous potential. We will take another step towards climate neutrality by using the first green power generated from the North Sea."

The power purchase agreement with Ørsted was signed and will be managed by EHA Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft, REWE Group's energy procurement arm.

Jan-Oliver Heidrich, Managing Director of EHA, added: "By signing the power purchase agreement with the new wind farm, REWE Group is directly promoting the expanded use of renewable energies, is assuming process responsibility and is playing an even more active role in the energy transition."


Rasmus Errboe, Head of Region Continental Europe at Ørsted, applauded REWE Group for supporting the transition from fossil to green energy: "The world urgently needs to shift to renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions. To achieve this systemic change, action is needed from governments, energy providers, and corporate energy customers. REWE Group has a long tradition of buying sustainable power, and by purchasing power from Borkum Riffgrund 3, they're supporting the build-out of affordable new renewable energy at industrial scale."


Borkum Riffgrund 3 is expected to become operational in 2025, subject to Ørsted's final investment decision, which is expected by the end of 2021. It will have a total export capacity of 900 MW and will be built in the German North Sea close near Ørsted's Borkum Riffgrund 1 and  Borkum Riffgrund 2 operational offshore wind farms.

Borkum Riffgrund 3 is the product of Ørsted merging three wind farms it secured in auctions in 2017 and 2018. The 900 MW wind farm will be built and operated without subsidies.

For more information on offshore wind farms worldwide, click here.

Premium

ForeSEE Premium, our most popular subscription, gives you full access to use the ForeSEE WebApp which includes exclusive offshore wind, transmission and vessel reports, news and downloads.

Request a 30 minute Demo

Trending News!