US E-commerce company Amazon has signed a ten-year offshore wind deal with Danish renewables firm Ørsted to take 250MW of its planned 900MW Borkum Riffgrund 3 farm in Germany.
Photo: Ørsted
The deal was ratified by a joint announcement made on Thursday and comes as part of Amazon's plan to be 100% renewable by 2030 and completely carbon-neutral by 2040.
The site is located in the German North Sea and is the second deal between the two companies, following the 2016 agreement on the Amazon onshore wind farm in Scurry County, Texas.
Read more: North Sea's biggest wind farm ready for operation
The deal brings the wind farm one step closer to being built, following on from two previous farms located at the site.
Rasmus Errboe, Senior Vice President, Head of Region Continental Europe at Ørsted Offshore and responsible for Corporate PPAs, said: “We applaud Amazon’s leadership in corporate renewable energy investments which helps drive the green energy transformation forward.
"This agreement shows that Ørsted is well placed to help corporations with green ambitions act on the global climate challenge. The CPPA with Amazon on Borkum Riffgrund 3 will drive this breakthrough zero-subsidy project a step closer towards realization, where it will supply large amounts of clean electricity for Germany’s green transition.
"Germany remains an attractive market for Ørsted with its recent decision to have 40GW of installed offshore wind capacity by 2040.”
Nat Sahlstrom, the director for Amazon Energy, said: “We are proud to work with Ørsted on Amazon’s first offshore wind CPPA, Europe’s largest with 250MW of renewable energy.
“The Borkum Riffgrund 3 offshore wind farm will help toward our goal of powering our operations with 100% renewable energy and reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.”
Read more: SSE and Equinor to invest in Britain's Dogger bank wind farm
With a planned output of 900MW, Borkum Riffgrund 3 is set to be the biggest offshore wind farm in Europe once work is completed.
The Danish company said it will make the final investment decision for the subsidy-free wind farm at the end of 2021. Operation is set to commence by 2025.
Orsted previously signed a deal for 100MW of the farm's capacity in 2019, with the deal going to german polymer producer Covestro.
The Danish firm as currently listed 1,301MW for corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) over the last 12 months.
PPAs have become a key player in the development of renewable energies, providing a reliable stream for asset owners as governments have closed or are closing subsidy schemes.
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