Lidl and Kaufland to Buy Electricity from Kaskasi, First Offshore Wind Farm to Use Recyclable Turbine Blades

April 5, 2023, by Adrijana Buljan

Lidl and Kaufland, the retail divisions of the German Schwarz Group, have signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with RWE Supply & Trading for the Kaskasi offshore wind farm, located in the German North Sea.

Illustration; Kaskasi offshore wind farm; Photo courtesy of RWE

Under the ten-year agreement, Lidl and Kaufland will be offtaking approximately 250 GWh of renewable electricity produced by Kaskasi per year, starting in 2028.

According to Schwarz Group, its two retail divisions are the first corporate customers to conclude a PPA for RWE’s Kaskasi offshore wind farm.

The Group said purchasing green electricity was just one of the measures that contribute to the joint climate strategy of its companies and to helping to save 55 per cent of CO2 by 2030. Through the strategy, the companies have set goals based on the methodology of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and implemented measures to reduce, avoid or offset CO2 emissions in both operations and the supply chain.

To achieve avoiding CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions, the companies have been sourcing their electricity 100 per cent from renewable energies since the 2022 financial year, with another source of green electricity now being added through the ten-year contract with RWE, according to Schwarz Group.

RWE’s 342 MW Kaskasi offshore wind farm, located 35 kilometres off the coast of Heligoland in the North Sea, has been operating since December 2022 and was officially inaugurated last month.

Offshore construction on the wind farm commenced in early March 2022 with the installation of the first monopile. The offshore substation, linked with the HelWin Beta platform, was installed at the end of the same month.

Installation of 38 Siemens Gamesa SG 8.0-167 DD Flex offshore wind turbines started in the summer of 2022. By the end of November 2022, DEME’s vessel Sea Challenger installed all 38 offshore wind turbines, three of which are fitted with Siemens Gamesa’s fully recyclable blades.