RWE Supply & Trading will purchase the full production of the Dutch onshore wind developed by Waddenwind, a group of local farmers in the province of Groningen. RWE Supply & Trading expects to market both the electricity and the associated guarantees of origin to its large industrial and municipal customers. The wind farm, consisting of 12 wind turbines, is located on a dyked area (Oostpolder) south of the port of Eemshaven. The turbines will generate an average of 190,000 megawatt-hours of green electricity per year, enough to supply an equivalent of 70,000 households with electricity.
The first wind turbines will start generating electricity in early 2021 and the complete wind farm is scheduled to be fully operational as of January 2022. RWE already has a strong presence in the Netherlands – the company generates electricity from wind and solar well as from gas and biomass and coal. RWE currently operates seven wind farms in the country, with four more under construction.
“Concluding this power purchase agreement with Waddenwind underlines our role as a strong partner for operators of renewables plants, when it comes to market green electricity," emphasises Hendrik Niebaum, who as Head of Commodity Solutions is responsible for the customer business at RWE Supply & Trading. "Furthermore, we also secure attractive volumes of renewable electricity to meet the increasing demand for tailor-made corporate-PPA solutions from our industrial and municipal customers, supporting them in achieving their climate targets."
“On behalf of Waddenwind we conducted the turbine purchasing process, project financing and the electricity sales. With RWE we found a strong partner who understands the value of partnership which resulted in a long term agreement with Waddenwind for the supply of green electricity,” says Peter Spruijt, Head of Projects and Windpark Management at Topwind Consultancy.
RWE Supply & Trading already supplies major customers directly with green electricity via PPAs, including Deutsche Bahn and Bosch. Since spring 2020, RWE Supply & Trading has also been marketing the electricity and guarantees of origin generated by the Belgian Northwester 2 wind farm.