German Trains to Run on Offshore Wind

German Rail (Deutsche Bahn – DB) has closed Germany’s first power purchase agreement (PPA) to buy electricity from an offshore wind farm.

German Rail has signed a five-year deal starting in 2024 to buy the output of 25MW, or 8%, of the 295MW Nordsee Ost wind farm in the North Sea from utility Innogy and RWE Supply & Trading.

The contract will run for five years, beginning in 2024. The supplied volume comprises 25 megawatts, which is the equivalent of four wind turbines. That is eight percent of the total production of the wind farm, which consists of 48 turbines with a total of 295 megawatts.

Deutsche Bahn is already the largest green-power consumer in Germany, and the company has set itself even higher goals for the environment and the climate with its new “Starke Schiene” corporate strategy. By 2038, the entire rail power consumed by DB will be 100 percent green. The company already covers over 57 percent of its energy requirements with energy from renewables.

The share of green power in the rail power mix of DB is drawn from a broad portfolio. For example, innogy hydropower plants have been supplying DB with around 900 million kilowatt hours of green power annually since 2011. The company’s annual energy requirement is around ten terawatt hours, equivalent to the energy consumption of a city the size of Hamburg.

This contract is the first offshore wind Corporate PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) in Germany. The power is produced at the offshore wind farm for a fixed price and is used directly by Deutsche Bahn. RWE Supply & Trading acts as the contract and retail partner.

Torsten Schein, CEO of DB Energie said: “Over the next few years, we will consistently replace expiring contracts based on fossil-fuel generation with renewable energy. Before the end of September, we will start a further Europe-wide invitation to tender for the long-term purchase of green electricity.”

Hans Bünting, COO Renewables innogy SE said: “This is a win-win deal for all parties involved. From 2024, Deutsche Bahn will run climate-friendly trains with green electricity from our Nordsee Ost offshore wind farm. After the reduction of state subsidies, we are pleased to have agreed commercial terms for the supply of electricity from the first turbines at our wind farm and created scope for further investment in this way.”