Amazon Calls Dibs on More Offshore Wind Power from Borkum Riffgrund 3

December 1, 2021, by Adrijana Buljan

Amazon has entered into a new long-term corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) with Ørsted for electricity that will be produced by the Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm in Germany.

Following the CPPA signed in December 2020, when the Seattle-headquartered technology company signed up for using the power produced by 250 MW of the wind farm’s total capacity, Amazon has now inked a CPPA for 100 MW more, brining its total power offtake from Borkum Riffgrund 3 to 350 MW.

According to Ørsted, the agreement is contributing to Amazon’s target of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, while also helping Ørsted stabilise revenues from Borkum Riffgrund 3 and thus contributing to the realisation of the project.

The news on the new agreement with Amazon comes shortly after Ørsted announced it had signed a twelve-year CPPA with Google for 50 MW of Borkum Riffgrund 3, and a few weeks after the developer signed a CPPA with the world’s largest chemicals producer, BASF, for 186 MW of the wind farm’s output.

In addition to the updated CPPA on Borkum Riffgrund 3, Amazon and Ørsted have also agreed that Amazon will offtake electricity production from the 16 MW Ballykeel onshore wind farm in Northern Ireland, for which a final investment decision is expected to be reached later this year. Amazon and Ørsted now have three CPPAs in place, since Amazon is also offtaking the full capacity of the 253 MW Amazon Onshore Wind Farm Texas in Scurry County, Texas.

According to Ørsted, Amazon is the world’s largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy.

“We’re moving quickly on our path to power operations with 100 % renewable energy by 2025 – five years earlier than our original target. The new agreements with Ørsted are an important step on this journey”, said Ralf Kleber, Country Manager of Amazon in Germany.

The 900 MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 was the world’s first large-scale offshore wind farm to be awarded a zero bid and is expected to go into full commercial operation in 2025.