Ørsted signs new offshore wind PPA with German supermarket chain Rewe

Food retailer Rewe Group and Ørsted have signed a ten-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for output from a 100MW portion of the 900MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 Borkum Riffgrund 3 (900MW) Offshorenorth-west of Borkum, Germany, Europe Click to see full details offshore wind farm. 

The project is due to become operational in 2025, subject to Ørsted’s final investment decision, which is expected by the end of this year.

The agreement was signed and will be managed by EHA Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft, REWE Group’s energy procurement arm.

The PPA represents REWE Group’s largest renewable energy offtake agreement to date. The company estimates the deal equals the power consumption of 1,500 of its stores. Rewe Group aims to become climate neutral by 2040.

“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,” said Ørsted’s head of continental Europe, Rasmus Errboe.

Borkum Riffgrund 3 already has PPAs in place with retail giant Amazon for output from a 250MW portion and German chemicals firm Covestro for a 100MW portion.

It will be built in the German North Sea close to Ørsted’s existing offshore wind farms 312MW Borkum Riffgrund 1 Borkum Riffgrund 1 (312MW) OffshoreNorth of Borkum, Germany, Europe Click to see full details and 465MW Borkum Riffgrund 2 Borkum Riffgrund 2 (465MW) Offshorewest of Borkum, Germany, Europe Click to see full details.

Green hydrogen pact

Ørsted has also signed a separate memorandum of understanding with German utility Uniper to jointly develop offshore wind to produce green hydrogen in Germany.

They plan to host an initial 70MW of electrolysis capacity at Uniper’s Wilhelmshaven site in northern Germany by 2025, and then scale this up to 410MW by 2030.

This electrolysis capacity would be powered by output from Ørsted’s offshore wind farms in the German North Sea. The companies are yet to decider whether they will use output from existing offshore wind capacity, already announced projects, or entirely new wind farms.

Axel Wietfeld, CEO of Uniper’s hydrogen division said: “By integrating offshore wind and hydrogen, we can significantly support industries such as the chemical, steel or transport sectors in their decarbonisation.”

The partners are also investigating carbon-free alternatives for stabilising power grids and green solutions for industrial customers that need a secure supply of power.