In future, Enercon will be supplying clean energy to leading German logistics companies and food manufacturers for use in their production facilities and cold stores for temperature-controlled goods.
The energy will be delivered within the framework of a fixed-price Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), and will come from four existing wind farms with a total capacity of 10.6 MW. The delivery of energy will be organised by QUADRA Energy GmbH. This Enercon company is responsible for all services and solutions in the field of energy logistics.
QUADRA Energy managing director Uwe Behrens said: “We are pleased that we were able to win over a renowned industry and logistics partner like the VDKL power pool with our PPA model.
“We will supply the green energy at a fixed price over the entire term of the PPA, providing planning security for both our customer and the wind farm operator. Our PPA allows the wind farm to remain economically viable and is therefore the ideal marketing model for operators and owners of existing wind farms that no longer receive EEG remuneration.”
VDKL managing director Jan Peilnsteiner said: “With this agreement, the VDKL power pool is expanding its established concept of self-sufficiency, with its own wind energy converters, hydropower plants and combined heat and power plants that have been in operation for a long time, to enable an efficient and sustainable power supply.
“The VDKL power pool is the largest energy purchasing collective to be borne by an association in Germany, with an energy requirement of more than 1.2TWh over 200 locations across the country. Above all else, we believe this contract model provides an option to secure prices in the long term, which was something the energy market could not offer up until now.”
Enercon managing director Hans-Dieter Kettwig said: “We have invested a lot in the development of sustainable marketing solutions in recent years. For us, the project with the VDKL power pool represents the first step into a new business segment that we aim to expand consistently in the future.”
There is significant market potential here: industry associations estimate that EEG remuneration will end for thousands of older wind energy converters in Germany in coming years. Operators and owners will then have to sell the energy from their wind turbines at market prices via the energy exchange, or find alternative marketing solutions. PPAs would be a possibility.
As a supplier of system solutions for renewable energies, Enercon sees its PPA model as part of its Enercon Energiekonzept 20+ (EEK20+) partnership concept for operators of legacy turbines for the operating phase after EEG funding has expired. It includes consultation and support for repowering projects, and for various scenarios for continued operation of existing WECs where the operator/owner is not planning a repowering project or where such a project is impossible.
In both cases, Enercon can offer an extensive package of support to both customers and operators/owners of competitor WECs. The main priority is always to ensure that the site is retained for wind energy generation in the future.
Source: Company Press Release
