German food retailer REWE Group has signed a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) 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. The 100 MW of green power from Borkum Riffgrund 3 equals the power consumption of 1,500 REWE stores.
“Our goal is to become climate neutral by 2040,” says Lionel Souque, CEO of REWE Group. “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 PPA with Ørsted was signed and will be managed by EHA Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft, REWE Group’s energy procurement arm.
“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,” adds Jan-Oliver Heidrich, managing director of EHA.
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 to Ørsted’s existing offshore wind farms Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Borkum Riffgrund 2. In the German offshore wind auctions, Ørsted was awarded the right to build the project with a bid of EUR 0 per MWh.
