RWE has signed a fifteen-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with EDF who will purchase the renewable electricity from the 1.4 GW Sofia offshore wind farm which is set for full generation in 2026.
In what represents RWE and EDF’s largest renewable energy agreement to date, EDF will offtake all the wind energy that Sofia will produce, expected to be approximately 6.5 terrawatt hours (TWh) each year.
This equates to almost half of the electricity used in the North East of England annually, or the equivalent of the power needs of 1.2 million UK homes, RWE said.
With offshore installation expected to begin in 2023 and project completion due in 2026, Sofia will have a capacity of 1.4 GW, making it one of the largest single offshore wind farms in the world.
It will comprise 100 Siemens Gamesa 14 MW turbines each standing at 252 metres tall.
Philippe Commaret , Managing Director, Customers at EDF, said: ”This agreement marks a major milestone in our progress towards achieving net zero, as well as the UK’s ambition to grow offshore wind capacity to 40 gigawatts by 2030. We are focused on working with partners like RWE to furnish the grid with the scale of renewable energy that it so desperately needs. This is exciting news for our customers and will also set a precedent for the UK’s energy industry – delivering large scale, practical solutions on the road to net zero.”
RWE is currently constructing Sofia and Triton Knoll offshore wind farms, which, when completed, will expand RWE’s current UK portfolio of nine operational offshore wind farms. In addition, in 2020 RWE signed Agreements for Lease with The Crown Estate to develop extension projects at four offshore wind farms.
Sven Utermöhlen , CEO Offshore Wind, RWE Renewables, said: ”The UK plays a key role in RWE’s strategy to grow its renewables business and to become carbon neutral by 2040. Sofia will be one of the largest single offshore wind farms in the world once constructed, the signing of the PPA with EDF demonstrates our ability to support electricity suppliers in providing CO2-free power to their customers.”
RWE plans to expand its green generation capacity to 50 GW internationally by 2030, 8 GW of which will be offshore wind, and is investing EUR 50 billion gross for this purpose in this decade.