BREAKING: Mercedes-Benz to Buy Electricity from Windanker Offshore Wind Farm

March 30, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

Iberdrola has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Mercedes-Benz for its new offshore wind farm Windanker in the German part of the Baltic Sea. With the PPA, Mercedes-Benz Group has secured more than 140 MW of Windanker’s total planned capacity of up to 315 MW for its sites in Germany from 2027 onwards.

Headquarters of Mercedes-Benz Group AG in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, Germany; Photo source: Mercedes-Benz Group

The contract is one of the largest PPAs for green energy in the automotive industry in Europe, according to Iberdrola, which also said Mercedes-Benz will be the largest electricity offtaker from the Windanker offshore wind farm.

The news about the PPA comes shortly after the Spain-based offshore wind developer signed a collaboration agreement with Amazon, which includes the technology giant signing power purchase agreements for Iberdrola’s Windanker and Baltic Eagle offshore wind farms in Germany.

For the PPA with Mercedes-Benz, Iberdrola said that the contract will support the German manufacturer’s goal of at least halving CO₂emissions per passenger/car over its entire life cycle by the end of this decade, compared to 2020 levels.

“Renewable energy supply is an important lever for reducing CO2 emissions throughout the global production network of Mercedes-Benz and for our entire company. By partnering with Iberdrola, we are taking an important step to further secure our green energy capacity for the future. We are thus underpinning our comprehensive claim to be a sustainable pioneer and at the same time our intention to play an active role in shaping the energy transition“, said Jörg Burzer, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG, Production and Supply Chain Management.

The Windanker offshore wind farm will be built next to the German island of Rügen and will comprise 20 turbines of the 15 MW class, installed in water depths between 41.5 and 44.9 metres.

In the German Baltic Sea, Iberdrola is already operating the 350 MW Wikinger and is currently building the 476 MW Baltic Eagle offshore wind farm. Together with the upcoming 315 MW offshore wind farm, the two projects are part of Iberdrola’s Baltic Hub, scheduled to operate an installed capacity of over 1.1 GW by 2027.

Windanker will come on stream in 2027 and will be the first offshore project in the German Baltic Sea at market conditions, according to information shared by Iberdrola earlier.