Decarbonisation of The Industry: Vattenfall And BASF Cooperate on German Offshore Wind Farms Nordlicht 1 And 2

Ludwigshafen, Germany - Vattenfall has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with BASF on the sale of 49 percent of the project shares in the Nordlicht 1 and 2 wind farm projects planned in the German North Sea to the chemical group.

Vattenfall intends to use its share of the electricity generation to supply customers in Germany with fossil-free electricity. BASF will use almost half of the electricity to supply its chemical production sites in Europe, particularly in Ludwigshafen.

The Nordlicht wind farm area is located 85 kilometres north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea and consists of two separate sites: Nordlicht 1 with a capacity of 980 MW and Nordlicht 2 with 630 MW.

Vattenfall is developing and building the Nordlicht sites. Once fully operational, the total production of the two wind farms is expected to be around 6 TWh per year, which is equivalent to the electricity consumption of around 1.6 million German households.

The contract is expected to be signed in the first half of 2024. Subject to a final investment decision, which the company expects to be made in 2025, construction of Nordlicht 1 and 2 can begin in 2026. The wind farms are expected to be fully operational in 2028.

"For our transformation to Net Zero, we need large quantities of renewable electric power at competitive prices. Together with our long-standing partner Vattenfall, we want this project to be another milestone in securing sufficient renewable electric power for BASF," said Martin Brudermüller, CEO of BASF, about the project.

"I’m proud that Nordlicht 1 and 2 will provide German customers with fossil-free electricity as well as contribute to the decarbonization of industry in Europe. BASF is a strong partner with ambitious sustainability goals, and we look forward to expanding our partnership with them," said Vattenfall CEO Anna Borg.

This is the second time that BASF plans to acquire a stake in one of Vattenfall’s offshore wind farms. In 2021, BASF already bought a share in the recently inaugurated Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm in the Netherlands, currently the largest offshore wind farm in the world. As part of its participation, BASF will receive 49.5 percent of the electricity from the 1.5 GW offshore wind farm.

Source: IWR Online, Dec 12 2023