German energy provider, EnBW and Deutsche Bahn (DB) have signed a long-term supply contract for green electricity. The contract will see EnBW supply DB with 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity from its He Dreiht offshore wind farm for 15 years.
The He Dreiht wind farm is located in the German North Sea and is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2025. It will have a total capacity of 960 MW, making it one of the largest offshore wind farms in Europe.
The electricity from the He Dreiht wind farm will be used to power Deutsche Bahn's traction network. This network supplies electricity to trains across Germany, and it is one of the largest consumers of electricity in the country.
The supply contract with EnBW is a major step forward for DB as it ups its efforts to become climate neutral by 2040 with the switch to green electricity, providing reductions of up to 60,000 tonnes per year.
Torsten Schein, CEO of DB Energie GmbH said: “Deutsche Bahn will be climate-neutral in 2040. In order for us to succeed in this, we will switch the traction current completely to renewable energies by 2038. DB is already Germany's largest user of green electricity.
“With the green electricity from the "He Dreiht" wind farm, we are now taking another important step in the restructuring of our energy portfolio and are getting closer and closer to our goal."
"We are proud to be partnering with Deutsche Bahn on this important project," said Dr. Georg Stamatelopoulos, Board Member for Sustainable Generation Infrastructure at EnBW. "The parallels between EnBW and Deutsche Bahn are remarkable: As operators of central infrastructures, we have a common responsibility for society and are pursuing the same goal of a CO2-free energy future Promoting a sustainable energy supply and mobility is an essential part of our agenda.
“We look forward to further promoting this together with a partner like Deutsche Bahn through our offshore wind farm "He Dreiht".
DB currently covers 65% of its traction fleet with renewable energies as it targets a 100% renewable fleet.
In addition to the supply contract, EnBW and Deutsche Bahn are also working together on other projects to promote sustainable mobility. These include the development of hydrogen trains with its H2goesRail project and the construction of charging stations for electric vehicles.
Photo Credit: iStock
