Statkraft and Umicore have signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) sourcing renewable power from onshore wind turbines in Finland. This agreement will cover part of the needs of Umicore’s site in Kokkola, where the Group produces precursor cathode active materials and refines cobalt used in rechargeable batteries for electric cars.

Statkraft will provide Umicore with approx. 60 GWh renewable power per year until 2033, certified with guarantees of origin from the Nuolivaara wind farm, in northern Finland. The non-subsidised wind farm will consist of 17 wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 96.9 MW and is expected to be commissioned in 2023. The contract runs for a period of 10 years starting in 2024.

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“The accelerated energy transition towards clean mobility that we are enabling at Umicore, goes beyond the rechargeable battery materials we produce and recycle. As we are taking our company to the next growth level it’s also about the choices we make in the way we produce – and still reach our objective of carbon neutrality in 2035,” said Mathias Miedreich, CEO of Umicore. “Clean energy agreements like the one we signed with Statkraft, allow Europe’s largest cobalt refinery and state-of-the-art cathode precursor facility to produce sustainably. Moreover, they reduce Umicore’s scope 2 emissions as we use electricity as the main source of energy throughout our battery materials value chain, and they significantly contribute to securing our own energy supplies, at a cost competitive level, for the next decade.”

“We are proud to support Umicore in Finland with this PPA to reduce their CO2 emissions and contribute to their sustainability goals. As the largest producer of renewable power in Europe, we in Statkraft aim to be a major partner to industry customers in the Nordic region and believe that our solutions should fit our customer’s needs,” said Hallvard Granheim, Executive Vice President for Markets at Statkraft.

As a leading PPA provider, Statkraft brings together power producers and companies from trade and industry across Europe and develops new innovative concepts. In Finland, Statkraft offers PPAs to industrial and commercial companies as well as to project developers and investors enabling the financing of new renewable power plants. As one of the most important actors in the European energy market, Statkraft trades energy and renewable energy certificates in Finland.

In its Let’s go for Zero ESG strategy, Umicore aims to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 for its scope 1 emissions resulting from its on-site operations, and for its scope 2 emissions, which relate to energy purchases. As a first milestone, Umicore aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent in 2025 from the 2019 baseline.

Source: Statkraft