German Food Retailer Signs Offshore Wind Power Purchase Agreement with Ørsted

German food retailer REWE Group has signed a ten-year power purchase agreement with Ørsted to procure 100 MW of green electricity from Ørsted’s Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm.

The agreement with Ørsted represents REWE Group’s largest renewable energy offtake agreement to date and makes REWE Group the first German food retailer to purchase electricity from an offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

The 100 MW of green power from Borkum Riffgrund 3 equals the power consumption of 1,500 REWE stores. REWE Group has a goal of becoming climate neutral by 2040.

“Our goal is to become climate neutral by 2040,” said Lionel Souque, CEO of REWE Group.

“It is obviously an ambitious goal. But it is also a goal that we will achieve. We must achieve it because energy plays a strategic role in our business: We are a green power pioneer in the German food retail sector. Our stores have been completely using power produced from renewable sources since 2008. Offshore wind energy has tremendous potential. We will take another step towards climate neutrality by using the first green power generated from the North Sea.”

The power purchase agreement with Ørsted was signed and will be managed by EHA Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft, REWE Group’s energy procurement arm.

”The world urgently needs to shift to renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions,” Rasmus Errboe, Head of Region Continental Europe, said.

”To achieve this systemic change, action is needed from governments, energy providers, and corporate energy customers. REWE Group has a long tradition of buying sustainable power, and by purchasing power from Borkum Riffgrund 3, they’re supporting the build-out of affordable new renewable energy at industrial scale.”

Borkum Riffgrund 3 is expected to become operational in 2025, subject to Ørsted’s final investment decision, which is expected by the end of 2021.

Borkum Riffgrund 3 will have a total export capacity of 900 MW and will be built in the German North Sea close to Ørsted’s existing offshore wind farms Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Borkum Riffgrund 2.

Ørsted was awarded the right to build the project with a bid of EUR 0 per MWh.

This was made possible by a number of cost drivers, including the installation of next-generation wind turbine technology, very good site conditions and high wind speeds, and anticipated revenue-stabilising power purchase agreements with industrial customers such as REWE Group, Ørsted said.