BASF, RWE plan massive offshore wind farm to supply Ludwigshafen

Reuters ($):

Chemicals giant BASF (BASFn.DE) and German utility RWE (RWEG.DE) on Friday announced a potential 4 billion euro ($4.9 billion) offshore wind power project to cut emissions at Germany’s most energy-intensive industrial site.

As part of the project, which depends on more favourable legislation, RWE plans to build a 2 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind park by 2030 to help to supply BASF’s Ludwigshafen chemicals complex, Germany’s single biggest electricity consumer.

BASF will own 49% of the wind park, RWE CEO Markus Krebber said, adding that while 80% of the farm’s output would go to Ludwigshafen, the remaining fifth will be used to power a 300 megawatt electrolyser to produce so-called green hydrogen.

“Without the availability of sufficient volumes of electricity from renewable sources at competitive prices, our future transformation will not be possible,” BASF Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller said.

[Christoph Steitz]

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