German BASF and Mingyang Plan to Build 500 MW Offshore Wind Farm in China

July 21, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

World’s largest chemicals producer, German BASF, and Mingyang, which just recently put the world’s biggest wind turbine in operation in China, have formed a joint venture to build and operate a 500 MW offshore wind farm which will power BASF’s new Zhanjiang Verbund site.

In the joint venture, named Mingyang BASF New Energy (Zhanjiang), Mingyang will be the majority shareholder with a 90 per cent stake and BASF will hold 10 per cent of the shares.

The project is planned to be built in the waters offshore Zhanjiang Municipality in Guangdong province and to be fully commissioned in 2025, subject to obtaining approval from the relevant authorities.

The majority of the power generated by the 500 MW wind farm will be used to supply clean electricity to BASF’s Verbund site in Zhanjiang, on which the construction started in 2020. The integrated Verbund site will be the company’s third-largest worldwide and will see BASF investing up to EUR 10 billion to complete all of its phases by 2030.

In addition to powering BASF’s facilities, the 500 MW offshore wind project the company and Mingyang Smart Energy plan to build in South China, will also foster innovation, the partners said.

“The wind power industry will benefit from safer and more cost-effective technologies by leveraging BASF’s advanced materials and Mingyang’s strong competence in renewable energy development”, the new partners said in a press release on 21 July.

According to the German chemicals producer, which owns a stake in the world’s currently biggest offshore wind farm, this is the first Sino-German offshore wind farm project involving development, construction and operation.

“As a partner of BASF, Mingyang will provide its expertise in clean energy equipment and solutions to help create more green lighthouse projects, promote sustainable development in the chemical industry, and accelerate eco-friendly, green and low-carbon development”, said Zhang Chuanwei, Founder and Chairman of the Board, Mingyang Group.

Back in 2021, BASF signed a 25-year fixed-price corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with Ørsted for the output of 186 MW from the Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in the German North Sea as part of BASF’s ambition of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Earlier that same year, the chemicals giant and RWE unveiled plans to build a 2 GW offshore wind farm that would power BASF’s chemical site in Ludwigshafen, its largest Verbund site, and enable CO2-free production of hydrogen.

BASF’s partner Mingayng is currently developing an 18 MW offshore wind turbine and has already rolled out the first 16 MW model for testing and demonstration, which has been installed and put into operation in China.

The MySE 16-260 wind turbine, whose rotor spans 260 metres in diameter, is now the biggest and most powerful to be installed anywhere.

The Chinese company has also developed what it says is the world’s first “jacket+net cage” system for fish farming, a typhoon-resistant aquaculture system that is installed as part of an offshore wind turbine structure and has an estimated annual fish production of 75 tonnes.

Mingyang has already entered the European offshore wind market with its turbines (of a smaller model) being installed on the Taranto offshore wind farm, the first offshore wind farm in Italy and the Mediterranean Sea.

A year ago, Mingyang Smart Energy started trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and last month the company and Opergy Group announced a strategic partnership to support the entry of Mingyang into the UK offshore wind market.