Wind

Vestas lined up for gigascale wind farm by 'Chinese turbines better' chemicals giant BASF

Vattenfall and German industrial group line up Danish group's 15MW machines for Nordlicht 1 and 2

Former BASF executive chairman Martin Brudermüller (l) and Vattenfall CEO Anna Borg sign their deal over the wind farms.
Former BASF executive chairman Martin Brudermüller (l) and Vattenfall CEO Anna Borg sign their deal over the wind farms.Photo: Vattenfall
Acting Editor-in-Chief, Recharge

Vestas is in line to supply a 1.6GW offshore wind project being built by Vattenfall and chemicals giant BASF, which has previously praised Chinese wind turbines.

Denmark-based global wind player Vestas signed a conditional deal to deliver 112 of its V236 15MW machines to the Nordlicht 1 and 2 development that Vattenfall and BASF are advancing in the German North Sea.

BASF earlier this year agreed to buy 49% of the projects for an undisclosed amount and intends to use its share from the power for its giant chemicals power complex in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
The chemicals group made headlines in the wind industry last year when CEO Martin Brudermüller claimed Chinese turbines were cheaper and better than those made by European rivals, adding that the wind OEM sector in Europe was “already gone”.
Brudermüller has since moved on from BASF, although the company is still heavily involved with the Chinese sector as a partner with turbine OEM Mingyang at a project off China itself.
Horatio Evers, managing director at BASF Renewable Energy, said of the deal with Vestas: “Renewable energies play a key role in our efforts to achieve net-zero CO2 emissions as soon as possible.

“This agreement is another important milestone in the Nordlicht 1 and 2 offshore wind projects and shows our clear commitment to the European wind power supply chain.”

Vattenfall and BASF also said the Nordlicht projects will become major users of low-emissions steel, fabricated using scrap melted in an electric arc furnace powered by wind.

The construction of Nordlicht 1 and 2 is scheduled to start in 2026 with the wind farms expected to be fully operational in 2028.

Vestas said the conditional deal was the one referred to in a disclosure last week which simply referred to an unnamed project.
(Copyright)

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Published 17 June 2024, 11:55Updated 17 June 2024, 14:41
VestasEuropeBASF