Finland – Borealis and Fortum have agreed to buy renewable energy from two onshore wind farms in Finland under a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA).
Over the course of eight years, the new wind farms, which are majority-owned and operated by Fortum, will supply over 800 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable energy to Borealis production operations in Porvoo, Finland. Because of the scope and duration of this agreement, both Borealis and Fortum are getting closer to achieving their climate neutrality goals.
The new long-term PPA calls for electricity to be sourced from two onshore wind parks to be built 400 kilometers northwest of Borealis’ Porvoo operations. The two parks, Pjelax-Bƶle and Kristinestad Norr, will have 56 wind turbines totaling approximately 1.1 terawatt hours of annual power generation (TWh). Fortum Oy will be the majority owner and operator of both farms. Construction began in January 2022, with operations expected to begin no later than the middle of 2024. When the project is completed in 2024, Borealis will own approximately 10% of the total output of the two wind farms for an eight-year period. The over 800 GWh of renewable energy delivered under this PPA is roughly equivalent to 8000 Finnish households’ average annual electricity consumption.
Fortum and Borealis both believe that industry decarbonisation can only be achieved through collaboration. Fortum is working with its industry and infrastructure clients to develop smart, cost-effective, and long-term energy supply solutions. On one hand, the new Borealis and Fortum PPA gives a big boost to Finland’s chemical industry, which is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2045.
On another level, the PPA represents a watershed moment for Borealis: once the new Fortum project is operational in 2024, the Borealis Group will have achieved 20% of its goal of sourcing at least 50% of the electricity consumed in its own production operations from renewable sources by 2030. Furthermore, the renewable electricity generated under this PPA will reduce Scope 2 emissions (CO2 emissions resulting from the generation of purchased electricity consumed by the company) at its Finnish operations by 28,000 tons per year, or 224 kilotonnes Scope 2 emissions over the course of the PPA’s eight-year term.
