Frankfurt Airport Operator Buys Offshore Wind Power

Fraport AG, the publicly listed operator of Frankfurt Airport, and EnBW have concluded a long-term corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) for the supply of electricity generated by the 900 MW He Dreiht offshore wind farm in the German North Sea.

The long-term contract guarantees Fraport 85 MW from this subsidy-free offshore wind farm.

The CPPA comes into force in the second half of 2026, and has a term of 15 years.

With the expiry of the previous subsidies under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), PPAs are becoming a key element of the energy transition, EnBW said. They provide developers of renewable energy projects with a reliable source of funding while helping purchasers to quickly achieve ambitious climate targets, the Karlsruhe-based energy company added.

”Long-term power purchase agreements are a market response to advancing the energy transition even without government support,” said EnBW CEO Frank Mastiaux.

”PPAs equally benefit purchasers, project developers and the climate. For us, they are the key between renewables-generated power and our major customers.”

Once the CPPA becomes operational in the summer of 2026, it will enable Fraport to transition a substantial portion of electricity consumption at its Frankfurt Airport home base to green energy. Fraport CEO Dr. Stefan Schulte said the agreement marked a key milestone in Fraport’s ongoing decarbonization strategy.

”Renewables such as wind and solar are the focus of our climate strategy. They provide the firm foundations for a comprehensive package of measures to systematically reduce our CO2 emissions. Our clearly defined goal is to make Frankfurt Airport carbon-free by 2045. The power sourced from this new offshore wind park will play a central role. As an airport operator, we are especially reliant on a dependable, stable source of power that can be scaled up to meet our growing needs. In EnBW, we have found a strong partner. Compared with the conventional energy sources on which we have previously depended, the new CPPA unlocks potential savings of up to 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year,” Schulte said.

EnBW secured rights to build the 900 MW He Dreiht without government subsidies in 2017.

Located about 90 kilometres northwest of the island of Borkum and about 110 kilometres west of Heligoland, He Dreiht is scheduled to go into operation in 2025. The final investment decision is planned for 2023.

The wind farm with around 60 turbines is currently the largest offshore wind project in Germany. It will also be the first in the world to use turbines with a capacity of 15 MW each.

By way of comparison, Germany’s first offshore wind farm, EnBW Baltic 1 built in 2011, has a capacity of 2.3 MW per turbine.

The signing of the CPPA with Fraport also marks the commencement of marketing for further quantities of electricity from He Dreiht, EnBW said.

The company plans to step up these activities in 2022, enabling further companies to achieve their climate targets using PPAs.

The green electricity supplied from 2026 under the PPA with EnBW to Germany’s largest airport will be harnessed to operate three terminals and many other buildings. The wind-generated power will also be used to illuminate the Frankfurt Airport’s apron and four runways, and to charge the growing fleet of more than 500 electric vehicles (EVs) on the airfield, which is some 25 square kilometers in size.