Chemicals producer BASF has agreed to buy 49.5% of Vattenfall’s 1520MW Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm in the Dutch North Sea, with Vattenfall retaining a 50.5% stake once the transaction is completed later this year..
BASF will buy into the subsidy-free project for €300 million and has also contributed about €1.3 billion towards the wind farm’s construction.
It will also acquire electricity from the wind farm through a power purchase agreement. This electricity will help to power its Antwerp Verbund site – the largest chemical production facility in Belgium.
Construction of the wind farm is due to begin in July 2021 and commissioning is planned for 2023.
Earlier this year, Vattenfall CEO Anna Borg said the developer was considering selling stakes in Hollandse Kust Zuid – and also in the 3.6GW Norfolk complex off the UK – to reduce its net investments.
Vattenfall secured permits to build Hollandse Kust Zuid in two tenders in 2018 and 2019 before deciding to merge the projects into one to leverage synergies. It will not receive any government subsidies for electricity generation.
Siemens Gamesa is due to supply 140 of its SG 11.0-200 DD turbines for the Dutch project.
BASF strategy
BASF aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
It aims to secure the necessary amounts of renewable electricity to achieve this target through a ‘make and buy’ approach, it stated.
Earlier this year, the chemicals company announced its intention to buy output from a planned 2GW RWE wind farm in the North Sea.
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