EnBW to supply green electricity from the “He Dreiht” offshore wind farm for the transformation of Saarland’s steel industry

EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW) and SHS – Stahl Holding Saar GmbH & Co. KGaA (SHS) have concluded a long-term, 50 megawatt (MW) power purchase agreement (PPA) that will run for 15 years.

The supply of green electricity enables SHS to sustainably transform the business activities of its companies Saarstahl and Dillinger and to reduce its own carbon emissions in future steel production.

The “He Dreiht” offshore wind farm is scheduled to go into operation in late 2025 and will have an output capacity of 960 megawatts. Located 90 km north of Borkum, it will be able to supply 1.1 million households with renewable energy. SHS can cover annual consumption of around 200 gigawatt hours (GWh) with the green electricity from the offshore wind farm.

“He Dreiht” is one of the largest energy transition projects currently underway in Europe, with 64 turbines across an area covering 63 square kilometers.

The 64 monopiles for the wind farm are being supplied by Steelwind Nordenham, a company of the Dillinger Group. The individual monopiles each have a length of 70 meters, a diameter of 9.2 meters, and a weight of up to 1,300 tons. The high-performance plates used for the monopiles are from Steelwind’s parent company Dillinger, Europe's leading manufacturer of heavy plate. This plate has been specially developed for use in the offshore wind sector and is known for its superior quality, even under harsh conditions at sea.

“The collaboration with EnBW is a real win-win situation. We supply the steel for the wind farm and, in return, the renewable electricity generated there helps us safeguard the transformation process of our companies Saarstahl and Dillinger. Our production is currently still based on traditional blast furnace technology. By 2030 we plan to be producing 3.5 million metric tons – around 70 percent of our steel – with lower emissions,” said Stefan Rauber, Chairman of the Management Board of SHS – Stahl-Holding Saar and Chairman of the Board of Management of Dillinger and Saarstahl, describing the upcoming transformation process.

“We’re excited about concluding this long-term power purchase agreement with SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar. We will be supplying additional green electricity from the 50 MW capacity of our planned offshore wind farm “He Dreiht” to an industrial partner. The interest shown by customers proves that our strategy to construct the wind farm without subsidies and to secure most of the electricity generated through long-term supply contracts is paying off. This is a good signal that the market mechanisms are functioning,” said EnBW CEO Georg Stamatelopoulos.