Sweden’s Vattenfall has signed a contract with German chemicals firm BASF to sell 49.5% of its wind farm Hollandsee Kust Zuid off the coast of the Netherlands for $300m. 

The purchase price takes into account the achieved status of the project. Including BASF’s contribution to funding the wind farm construction, BASF’s total commitment amounts to around €1.6bn. The closing of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Offshore construction of the wind farm will start in July 2021. Once fully operational, the wind farm will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world with 140 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 1.5 GW, Vattenfall said.

The Hollandse Kust Zuid wind farm will also be the first fully merchant offshore wind farm which does not receive any price subsidies for the power produced. The project is expected to become fully operational in 2023.

BASF is acquiring the electricity from the wind farm for its ownership share through a long-term power purchase agreement with the aim of implementing low-emission technologies at several of its production sites in Europe.

The company has also teamed up with compatriot energy company RWE to electrify the Ludwigshafen chemical site with an additional 2 GW of offshore wind power.