Renewable energy company BayWa r.e. and HeidelbergCement, one of the world’s leading vertically-integrated building construction materials companies, have signed a 10-year corporate Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the Witnica solar park in Poland.
As it is the first subsidy-free PPA-backed large scale solar park in Poland, this new partnership marks a new era of clean and sustainable corporate energy sourcing, with the potential of serving as a blueprint for more PPA structures in the region and beyond.
The contractual counterpart of the virtual PPA is the Górażdże group, the Polish subsidiary of HeidelbergCement and the agreement represents a significant step in HeidelbergCement’s road to carbon neutrality.
“The 10-year PPA agreement for Witnica is a great achievement for the Górażdże Group – we are gradually fulfilling the company’s sustainable development goals,” said Andrzej Reclik, President of the Management Board of Górażdże Cement. “BayWa r.e. is a trusted partner for us, we are glad that together we can set standards in the industry.”
Due for completion in the first half of 2021, the park, developed and built by BayWa r.e., is located near Witnica, close to the German border between Poznań and Berlin. The solar park will be the largest in Poland, with a capacity of 64.6 megawatts peak (MWp) and will deliver the most cost-efficient green electricity anywhere in the country.
“Here is the ultimate proof that photovoltaic power can – without any subsidies – be competitive to conventional energies, even in a European country further north, which still generates 80 per cent of its electricity from coal,” commented Benedikt Ortmann, Global Director of Solar Projects at BayWa r.e.
“We are pleased to see that not only in Poland but all around the world, companies are sourcing their own green electricity via corporate PPAs,” added Andrea Grotzke, Global Director of Energy Solutions at BayWa r.e. “As a unique model for Poland, this PPA serves as an economic structure for a fixed price hedge against rising electricity costs. Securing energy from solar not only reduces a company’s CO2 footprint. We are convinced that it also results in significant savings on the corporate energy bill.”
Securing the PPA with HeidelbergCement is part of BayWa r.e.’s wider strategy in Poland as the country rapidly brings more renewables online. Over the next five years, the company has set the goal of constructing solar and wind projects in Poland with a total installed capacity of more than 1 gigawatts (GW).
