Deutsche Bahn’s subsidiary, DB Energie, has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with EnBW for electricity generated at the He Dreiht offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.
Based on this PPA, Deutsche Bahn has secured the delivery of around 20 MW of green electricity over a period of 15 years from the 960 MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm, starting in 2026.
With the amount of electricity provided by the project, the entire German traction power network can be supplied for three days, said EnBW.
Torsten Schein, CEO of DB Energie GmbH said that Deutsche Bahn plans to be climate-neutral by 2040.
“In order to get there, we will be switching to entirely renewable energy sources for the traction power by 2038. DB is already Germany’s biggest user of green electricity,” said Schein.
This is their second PPA signed this month, following an agreement inked with Trianel Windkraftwerk Borkum GmbH & Co. KG (TWB) for the electricity generated at the Trianel Windpark Borkum I offshore wind farm.
When it comes to He Dreiht, the offshore wind farm will comprise a total of 64 wind turbines with an individual output of 15 MW.
EnBW selected Vestas’s new 15 MW model with a 236-metre rotor diameter for its zero-subsidy project last year.
The developer made the final investment decision (FID) for the offshore wind farm in March this year. The project is located 85 kilometres northwest of the Island of Borkum and 110 kilometres west of Heligoland.
Once operational in 2025, He Dreiht will generate green electricity for the equivalent of 1.1 million German households.