Borealis Back at Eneco for More Offshore Wind Power

Business & Finance

December 7, 2022, by Adnan Durakovic

Chemical company Borealis and Eneco have signed a second ten-year power purchase agreement (PPA) to supply renewable electricity for Borealis production operations in Belgium.

Illustration; Image source: Otary/Ocean Winds

Eneco, which has an exclusive offtake agreement for the entire output generated at the 487 MW SeaMade offshore wind farm in the Belgian North Sea, will supply around 150 gigawatt-hours (GWh) each year to Borealis over the next ten years, starting in 2024.

The additional renewable electricity procured through this agreement brings Borealis closer to realizing its aim to use 100 per cent renewable electricity in its Polyolefins and Hydrocarbons businesses by 2030.

SeaMade is the largest wind farm in the Belgian North Sea. It comprises two offshore concessions commissioned at the end of 2020, Seastar with 252 MW, and Mermaid 235 MW, each with two offshore substations. The farm’s 58 wind turbine generators, each with 8.4 MW capacity, are located around 45 kilometres off the coastal city of Ostend. Taken together, Seastar and Mermaid have the capacity to power the equivalent of around 500,000 Belgian households every year.

The first PPA between Borealis and Eneco, signed in October 2020, entails delivery of wind power from Mermaid to Borealis Belgian operations as of January 2021.

”As part of our One Planet Plan – becoming climate neutral by 2035 – assisting our customers in their path to climate neutrality is an important element,” said Jean-Jacques Delmée, CEO of Eneco Belgium.

”By combining our decarbonization efforts, together we can achieve more and faster. We act now, and we set the pace for others.”

The new, second PPA covers the supply of renewable electricity to Borealis from the Seastar wind park. The renewable electricity generated within the framework of the second PPA – around 1.5 terawatt-hours over ten years – will lower Scope 2 emissions at Borealis operations in Belgium by approximately 22,300 tons per year, the company said.

These PPAs represent progress towards realizing the objective of increasing the share of renewables in the electricity mix to 40 per cent by 2025 and ensuring that by 2030, 100 per cent of the electricity used to power Borealis operations in Polyolefins and Hydrocarbons is of renewable origin.

”Our new PPA with Eneco for roughly 1.5 TWh of renewable power over the next ten years is an important step forward for Borealis in achieving our own Energy & Climate targets,” said Borealis Executive Vice President Base Chemicals and Operations, Wolfram Krenn.

”Having strong and reliable partners like Eneco enables us to accelerate our climate neutrality efforts. This is what we mean by re-inventing essentials for more sustainable living.”