BASF Creates Renewable Energy Offshoot
World’s largest chemical producer BASF is creating a new company dedicated to renewable energy. The new firm, BASF Renewable Energy, which is to be based at the group’s Ludwigshafen, Germany headquarters, will steer internal projects as well as collaboration with external partners.
Horatio Evers, who currently has responsibility for the development of renewable energies within the German parent company, will lead the new business that is to start operations in January 2022. In particular, its efforts will be focused on reducing the use of fossil play group companies deploy for electricity generation.
Toward meeting these goals, the renewable energy company will be tasked with signing long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with utility companies for supply of renewable energy at competitive prices. BASF will continue to take stakes in wind farms as it has in recent months with Sweden’s Vattenfall and Germany’s RWE. In its most recent deal, BASF signed on with French provider Engie to secure wind energy supply over a 25-year period.
Along with negotiating supply agreements, the new BASF company will provide expertise and advice on renewable energy to the group’s companies worldwide, for example, dealing with regulatory requirements across national borders as well as exploring local and regional framework conditions for the use of renewable energies.
Net Zero accelerator to be created
Separately, BASF said it plans to bundle its group-wide efforts to reduce emissions from production into a dedicated unit based at Ludwigshafen. The Net Zero Accelerator, to be headed by Lars Kissau, will seek to speed up domestic and international projects related to low-CO2 production technologies, circular economy and renewable energies.
In an intermediate step toward reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, as set out in the EU’s Green Deal, BASF’s goal is reduce greenhouse gas output by 25% by 2030 compared with 2018. Under Kissau’s aegis, CEO Martin Brudermüller said existing and new global projects will be launched and driven forward at corporate level.
Author: Dede Williams, Freelance Journalist
