Plan for a potential 4 billion euro ($4.9 billion) offshore wind power project aimed to reduce the emissions at most energy intensive industrial site in Germany was announced recently this week by the chemicals giant BASF and German utility RWE.

The plans include building a 2 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind park by 2030 by RWE so that the project is able to supply wind generated power to BASF’s Ludwigshafen chemicals complex which is the single biggest electricity consumer of Germany. The plans however are also dependent on more favourable legislation.

49 per cent stake of the new wind park will be owned by BASF while about 80 per cent of the electricity generated by the project will be allocated for the Ludwigshafen chemicals complex of BASF, said RWE CEO Markus Krebber. The remaining 20 per cent of the total output of the project is planned to be used for powering a 300 megawatt electrolyser which is planned to generate the so-called green hydrogen, Krebber added.

“Without the availability of sufficient volumes of electricity from renewable sources at competitive prices, our future transformation will not be possible,” BASF Chief Executive Martin Brudermueller said.

However a number of regulatory factors are critical for the future success of the project. Such regulations include faster tenders for potential sites in the North Sea as well as the government making renewable energy being made exempt from the huge green power levies that are applicable currently in Germany.

Brudermueller told a news conference held jointly with RWE that the companies expect that the total demand for electricity at Ludwigshafen will increase three folds by 2035. Brudermueller added that the electricity that the tow companies hope to generate from the wind park will be enough to meet about 25 per cent of all the power needs of chemicals production hub of the company.

(Adapted from IndiaTimes.com)