German Steel Manufacturers Sign PPA with EnBW for He Dreiht Offshore Wind Farm

Business & Finance

April 12, 2024, by Adrijana Buljan

EnBW and SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar have signed a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for 50 MW of generation capacity from the 960 MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm in Germany.

SHS plans to use the green electricity produced by He Dreiht to power operations at the two major steel companies in the German state of Saarland, Dillinger and Saarstahl, and to reduce its own carbon emissions when manufacturing steel in the future.

With the reserved generation capacity of 50 MW, SHS can cover an annual consumption of roughly 200 GWh with the electricity from the offshore wind farm, according to EnBW, the developer of the German offshore wind farm.

EnBW has so far signed long-term PPAs for He Dreiht with several companies: Evonik for 150 MW, separately for 100 MW and 50 MW; the operator of Frankfurt Airport, Fraport AG, for 85 MW; Bosch for 50 MW; Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH for 50 MW; Deutsche Bahn for 20 MW; and Deutsche Telekom’s Power and Air Condition Solution Management (PASM) for 100 MW.

For SHS, an operational management holding company that performs tasks for the steel manufacturers Dillinger and Saarstahl, this is a second PPA for 50 MW of offshore wind capacity, after the company signed a similar agreement with Iberdrola Deutschland for the Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm last year.

With the He Dreiht offshore wind farm, SHS already has a connection through Dillinger, whose subsidiary Steelwind Nordenham will supply the project’s 64 monopiles.

The monopiles – each measuring 70 metres in length, 9.2 metres in diameter and up to 1,300 tonnes in weight – are being made using plates from Steelwind’s parent company Dillinger.

“The cooperation with EnBW is a real win-win situation. We supply the steel for the wind farm, while the electricity generated here from renewable sources in turn helps us to drive the transformation process for our companies Saarstahl and Dillinger. Our steel production operation is still based on classic blast furnace technology. From 2030, we want to generate fewer emissions when manufacturing 3.5 million metric tons – about 70 percent – of our steel,” said Stefan Rauber, Chairman of the Board of Management of SHS and Chairman of Dillinger and Saarstahl.

Located approximately 85 kilometres northwest of the Island of Borkum and about 110 kilometres west of Heligoland, He Dreiht will comprise a total of 64 Vestas 15 MW turbines.

The offshore wind farm is expected to go into operation in 2025.