Covestro increases share of renewable power for site in Belgium

Covestro and RWE have signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) for the supply of power and guarantees of origin from offshore wind turbines in the North Sea for the Covestro production site in Antwerp, Belgium. The contract runs from 2026 to 2030 and will enable Covestro to increase the share of renewable energy from the current 45% to 60% of the site’s current power needs and secure the supply of green energy until 2030, saving 103,000t of CO₂.

“The new contract shows: We are making consistent progress on our path to climate-neutral production – even in economically challenging times,” says Dr. Thorsten Dreier, Chief Technology Officer at Covestro. “Because we are convinced that our vision of a complete focus on the circular economy and climate neutrality is the only way to ensure the long-term success of our company.”

Ulf Kerstin, CCO of RWE Supply Trading, says: “We are delighted to support Covestro in achieving its ambitious sustainability goals and to be able to accelerate the transition to climate-neutral production. The great interest of our customers in green power underlines the importance of CO₂-free power for the manufacturing industry.”

The new PPA with RWE replaces a current agreement, which expires at the end of 2025. At the Antwerp site, Covestro produces the high-performance plastic polycarbonate, which is used in car headlights, electrical and electronic components, LED lights, medical technology and many other applications. Polyether and the important industrial chemical aniline are also produced there, and Covestro is currently expanding production there with the construction of a new world-scale plant.

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“This supply agreement is a further step towards increasing the proportion of renewable power in our production,” says Dr. Georg Wagner, Managing Director of Covestro in Antwerp. “With this and the use of sustainable raw materials and innovative recycling technologies, our production site is on the way to a climate-neutral and fully circular future. We are delighted to have found a partner in RWE with whom we can reach the next level.”

Covestro aims to achieve climate-neutral production by 2035 and has already concluded several electricity supply contracts worldwide. Since 2023, the site in Shanghai has been supplied with 45% of its electricity from solar and wind power and in the USA, Covestro has concluded a virtual power purchase agreement with the company Ørsted for 200 gigawatt hours of solar power, which corresponds to 12% of the electricity requirements at the Baytown site.

By 2025, 10% of the electricity at the company’s sites in Germany is also to come from renewable energy sources. In this way, Covestro aims to achieve the interim target of reducing greenhouse gases from production by 60% by 2030. At the end of 2023, Covestro covered about 16% of its global electricity needs from renewable sources.

Main image caption: The Covestro site in Antwerp. © Covestro