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The way the wind is blowing
It is not always easy to tell when an idea ’ s time has come . But sometimes it is . The sudden take-off of power purchase agreements ( PPAs ) with energy companies in the chemicals industry in Q1 2023 is a case in point , with a veritable rash of announcements .
Lanxess has signed a PPA that will see Engie supply it with 1,400 GWh supplied from 17 wind farms and four solar parks in Germany to seven sites in Germany and Belgium . More than half will be covered by corporate PPAs with guarantees of origin for green power . This , the company says , will reduce its carbon footprint by 33,000 tonnes / year .
Similarly , under its two PPAs with EnBW Evonik will take 150 MW from the planned He Dreiht offshore wind farm in the North Sea over the next 15 years . These will cover more than a third of its power requirements in Europe from 2026 onwards , taking the amount of electricity it sources from renewables worldwide from 27 % to 50 % of the total and reduce its Scope 2 emissions by about 150,000 tonnes / year .
In South Africa , Sasol and Air Liquide have signed two PPAs with TotalEnergies and Mulilo for the long-term supply of 140 MW of wind power and 120 MW of solar power to the Secunda site . This followed a previous PPA in January and brings their total joint commitment to the procurement of renewable energy to 480 MW , with more expected o be announced shortly .
Thermo Fisher Scientific has concluded a 20-year virtual PPA with EDF Renewables , which includes the full output of the 200 MW Millers Branch Solar project in Texas . Combined with a previously announced agreement with Enel North America for the Seven Cowboy wind project , this will enable it to power all of its US sites with 100 % renewable electricity by 2026 .
Most recently , Solvay announced a 15-year agreement to purchase all of the renewable energy certificates generated by EnergyRe ’ s Lone Star Solar project in South Carolina to five of its sites in Maryland , Virginia and South Carolina . This will help it decrease greenhouse gas emissions from its operations by 73,000 tonnes / year .
These are very large-scale off-take agreements by major players but there are other examples on a smaller scale or by different means . For example , Heraeus Precious Metals is planning to sign a PPA for up to 40 GWH / year of electricity from the ground-mounted photovoltaic plants that Next Energy plans to install at its sites in Germany .
The drivers are obvious enough . Companies want both to ensure electricity supplies and to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels for both economic and environmental reasons . Most have targets to achieve Net Zero – another idea whose time has clearly come – and in the current geopolitical climate , PPAs would appear to be a no-brainer .
As the old saying goes , there is many a slip between cup and lip . Most of the wind and solar farms in question have yet to be completed or , in some cases , started . Despite government support , they needed private investment and could not go ahead without substantial PPAs in place .
That could have turned into a real chicken-and-egg situation , to paraphrase another old saying . However , circumstances have conspired to make them a reality . We will certainly be seeing more announcements . Indeed , given the pace of them in February alone , I would not be surprised in the least if more have not happened by the time you read this .
Dr Andrew Warmington
EDITOR – SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE
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