Thyssenkrupp Steel's facility in Hagen has achieved a notable milestone by becoming the first industrial plant in Germany to receive direct wind power from a nearby wind park.
The newly installed Hohenlimburg wind farm, boasting four wind turbines with a capacity of 17 megawatts, now connects directly to the Thyssenkrupp factory network via a three-kilometer-long line. This innovative setup allows for the utilization of a significant portion of the wind farm's annual 55 gigawatt-hours (GWh) output without relying on the public grid. Surplus energy, particularly during periods of high wind or reduced plant demand, can be seamlessly redirected to other company sites through the public grid.
The transition to green energy from the wind farm is anticipated to meet approximately 40% of the plant's yearly electricity requirements, marking a substantial step towards sustainable operations.
Tanja Koenig, managing director of the industry association LEE NRW, hailed the agreement between Thyssenkrupp and SL NaturEnergie as a promising precedent for industrial firms across the country. She emphasized the importance of direct energy delivery from renewable sources to industrial facilities, highlighting its dual benefit of promoting environmental sustainability while alleviating pressure on public electricity grids.
However, Klaus Schulze Langenhorst, the founder and managing director of SL NaturEnergie, lamented the existing hurdles within current energy legislation, suggesting that further intervention from policymakers would be necessary to facilitate widespread adoption of such innovative energy supply models.
With a workforce of 1,000 employees, Thyssenkrupp Steel's Hagen plant in North Rhine-Westphalia specializes in producing hot-rolled precision steel strip primarily for the cold rolling and automotive industries, as well as sectors like sawmill and agricultural machinery.
