Vattenfall’s New Offshore Wind Farm to Power LyondellBasell’s Plastic Recycling Plant in Germany

Vattenfall has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with LyondellBasell (LYB), one of the world’s largest plastic producers, for its Nordlicht 1 offshore wind farm in Germany. Under the PPA, LyondellBasell will buy 450 GWh of electricity generated by Nordlicht 1 each year for 15 years, starting in 2028.

In a press release on 29 January, LYB said it would use Nordlicht 1 electricity to support its circular and low-carbon solutions in Germany, including powering the company’s MoReTec-1 plant in Wesseling, LYB’s first commercial-scale advanced plastic recycling plant. The facility can recycle the amount of plastic packaging waste generated by over 1.2 million German citizens per year using the company’s proprietary technology, according to LYB.

The plastic producer, headquartered in Houston, US, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, also signed a long-term PPA with wpd for 79 GWh annually of onshore wind power from the Licata wind farm in Sicily, Italy.

LYB said the two PPAs offer long-term price certainty, which helps stabilise energy costs and make renewable energy more attractive compared to fluctuating fossil fuel prices.

“With this electricity partnership with LYB, we at Vattenfall are sending a strong signal for our long-term strategy: We do not only want to decarbonize ourselves, but we also support our suppliers, partners and customers in leading a life without fossil fuels”, said Martijn Hagens, Head of Markets at Vattenfall.

Last year, Vattenfall signed a long-term PPA with the steel producer Salzgitter for 75 MW of capacity from the Nordlicht 1 offshore wind farm, which can produce around 300 GWh of electricity per year.

Nordlicht 1 wind farm, which is still pending a final investment decision, is located around 85 kilometres north of the island of Borkum in the German North Sea. The offshore wind farm will have a total output of 980 MW and is scheduled to be completed and connected to the grid in 2028.

Nordlicht 1 is part of the Nordlicht offshore wind project that consists of two separate wind farms, the other one being Nordlicht 2 with a capacity of around 630 MW.

Nordlicht is owned by Vattenfall (51 per cent) and BASF (49 per cent), with Vattenfall developing and building the project on behalf of the partnership.