EnBW supplies green electricity from the He Dreiht offshore wind farm

Karlsruhe/Dillingen (Saar). EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) and SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA have signed a long-term 50-megawatt (MW) power purchase agreement (PPA) for a period of 15 years.

The green electricity supply will enable SHS to sustainably transform the business activities of its companies Saarstahl and Dillinger and reduce its own carbon emissions when manufacturing steel in the future.

The “He Dreiht” offshore wind farm is scheduled to enter operation at the end of 2025. Located 90 km north of Borkum, it will be able to supply the equivalent of 1.1 million households with renewable energy upon completion, with an output of 960 megawatts. SHS can cover an annual consumption of roughly 200 gigawatt hours (GWh) with the green electricity from the offshore wind farm.

“He Dreiht” is currently one of the largest energy transition projects in Europe with 64 turbines and an area of 63 square kilometers. The 64 monopiles for the wind farm are being supplied by Steelwind Nordenham, a company of the Dillinger Group. The individual monopiles each measure 70 meters in length, have a diameter of 9.2 meters and weigh up to 1,300 metric tons. High-performance plates from Steelwind’s parent company Dillinger, Europe’s leading manufacturer of heavy-plate products, are being used. These plates have been specially developed for use in the offshore wind sector and are known for their superior quality, even under adverse conditions at sea.

“The cooperation with EnBW is a real win-win situation. We supply the steel for the wind farm, while the electricity generated here from renewable sources in turn helps us to drive the transformation process for our companies Saarstahl and Dillinger. Our steel production operation is still based on classic blast furnace technology. From 2030, we want to generate fewer emissions when manufacturing 3.5 million metric tons – about 70 percent – of our steel” said Stefan Rauber, Chairman of the Board of Management of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar and Chairman of Dillinger und Saarstahl, explaining the upcoming transformation process.

“We are delighted to have signed the long-term power purchase agreement with Stahl-Holding-Saar. This allows us to supply an industrial partner with a further 50 MW of green electricity from our planned ‘He Dreiht’ offshore wind farm. The interest shown by customers proves that our strategy of constructing the wind farm without any state funding and hedging most of the electricity generated through long-term supply contracts is working really well. This is a good sign that the market mechanisms are functioning,” said EnBW CEO Georg Stamatelopoulos.