Company

20 September 2021

Ørsted and REWE Group reach agree­ment on green power to be supplied by the off­shore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 3

The Cologne-based business group reaches another sustainability milestone. REWE Group has been using green power since 2008. It will now become the first food retailer to use power from the North Sea.
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Hamburg/Cologne: Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft (EHA), the central energy service provider of REWE Group, and Ørsted, the world market leader in the planning, construction and operation of offshore wind farms, signed a 10-year corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) today. REWE Group is the first and only food retailer in Germany that will use green power generated by a North Sea wind farm to operate its business units Retail Germany, Toom DYI stores and Travel and Tourism.

Our goal is to become climate neutral by 2040, said Lionel Souque, the CEO of REWE Group. It is obviously an ambitious goal. But it is also a goal that we will achieve.  We must achieve it because energy plays a strategic role in our business: We are a green power pioneer in the German food retail sector. Our stores have been completely using power produced from renewable sources since 2008. Offshore wind energy has tremendous potential. We will take another step towards climate neutrality by using the first green power generated from the North Sea.

Jan-Oliver Heidrich, the Managing Director of EHA, added: By signing the power purchase agreement with the new wind farm, REWE Group is directly promoting the expanded use of renewable energies, is assuming process responsibility and is playing an even more active role in the energy transition.

Rasmus Errboe, the head of the Europe region at Ørsted, described REWE Group as a pacesetter: The world must urgently switch to renewable energies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Measures taken by governments, energy suppliers and even energy customers will be required if our efforts to make this system transition are to succeed. REWE Group is a role model here, particularly because it has been using green power for so long. By purchasing power from the offshore wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 3, it will support the continued expansion of affordable renewable energy on an industrial scale.

The agreement covers the provision of about 100 megawatts (MW) of power that will be generated after the expected completion of the wind farm Borkum Riffgrund 3 in 2025. EHA Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft will handle the details of the energy deliveries. REWE Group became a trailblazer in its business sector in 2008 when it began to use only power produced from renewable sources in its stores and travel agencies. The corporate power purchase agreement with Ørsted is the ideal way to help REWE Group to reach its sustainability goal of becoming climate neutral by 2040.

Ørsted is also pursuing ambitious decarbonisation goals of its own. The company launched its own transformation more than 10 years ago. In the process, it has evolved from one of the most coal-intensive energy company in the business and become the most sustainable energy company in the world. The company plans to install 50 gigawatts (GW) of capacity from renewable energy sources by 2030. This will include 30 GW of offshore wind power. The company itself plans to become climate neural by 2025.

The Borkum Riffgrund 3 wind farm will have total capacity of about 900 MW and was awarded in past offshore wind auctions for 0 cents. The power provided to REWE Group will not be subsidised at all as a result. The amount of power expected to be supplied under the PPA will equal the annual total of electricity used by about 1,500 stores at REWE Group.

Facts about Borkum Riffgrund 3

  • Borkum Riffgrund 3 is expected to begin operations in 2025 after Ørsted makes the final investment decision, an action that should come at the end of 2021.

  • Borkum Riffgrund 3 will have total capacity of 900 MW. It will be built by Ørsted in the German section of the North Sea near the two existing offshore wind farms Borkum Riffgrund 1 and Borkum Riffgrund 2.

  • Ørsted was awarded the contract in offshore wind auctions with a bid of 0 cents. This was made possible by a number of cost reductions, including the installation of next-generation wind turbine technology, very good on-site conditions, high wind speeds and expected power supply agreements like the CPPA with REWE Group and other industrial customers.

About REWE Group

The cooperatively organized REWE Group is one of the leading trade and tourism groups in Germany and Europe. In 2022, the company generated a total external turnover of 85 billion euros. Founded in 1927, REWE Group operates with around 380,000 employees in 21 European countries.

The sales lines include REWE, REWE CENTER and BILLA as well as BILLA PLUS and ADEG supermarkets and consumer stores, the discounter PENNY, IKI, the drugstores BIPA and the toom Baumarkt DIY stores. The company also operates convenience stores REWE To Go and the e-commerce activities REWE Lieferservice and Zooroyal. The Lekkerland Group comprises the wholesale activities of the business group in the area of on-the-go consumption.Travel and tourism under the umbrella of DER Touristik Group includes the tour operators DERTOUR, ITS, Meiers Weltreisen, Kuoni, Helvetic Tours, ITS Coop Travel, Billa Reisen, Koning Aap, Exim Tours and Fischer as well as more than 2,300 travel agencies (e.g. DERTOUR, DERPART, Kuoni, Exim, Fischer and cooperation partners), the hotel brands Sentido, Aldiana, Calimera, Cooee, and the online travel portal Prijsvrij Vakanties.

About EHA Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft

EHA Energie-Handels-Gesellschaft is based in Hamburg and serves as the 360° energy service provider for the company with its many locations in Germany and Austria. EHA generates individual added value for its customers by supplying them with green power and gas, efficiency and climate-protection advisory services, operation of trade fair booths and energy data management. The use of digital technologies facilitates continuous consumption and cost reductions. EHA pays more than lip service to climate protection. The company has committed itself to renewable energies and acts as an energy producer as well. EHA operates photovoltaic systems and combined heat and power plants fired completely by biogas at customers’ properties. EHA is a subsidiary of REWE Group.

About Ørsted

Ørsted believes in a world that is powered completely by green energy. In a reflection of this belief, the company plans, builds and operates onshore and offshore wind farms, solar farms, energy storage systems and biomass power plants. It also provides intelligent energy solutions to its customers. Ørsted operates four offshore wind farms in the German section of the North Sea. The 231 wind power units with total capacity of more than 1.3 gigawatts (GW) supply green power to about 1.4 million households in Germany. Ørsted is also active in eight different projects involving green hydrogen and power-to-X in northwestern Europe. In Germany, these projects are “Westküste 100” and “Lingen Green Hydrogen”. Ørsted was presented the German Sustainability Award 2021. The company was also recognised as the world’s most sustainable energy company in 2021 by Corporate Knights. It is a climate-protection pacesetter through its role in the Carbon Disclosure Project. The Denmark-based Ørsted employs 6,311 people around the world, including about 230 in Germany. Ørsted’s share is listed on the Nasdaq-Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2020, the company generated revenue of 7.1 billion euros. You will find more information at www.orsted.de

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Contact
Andreas Krämer
Spokesperson REWE Group