BASF and X-ELIO have signed a 12-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to supply 48 megawatts (MW) of solar power to BASF's Verbund site in Freeport, Texas. With this agreement in place, 100% of the site's expected purchased power will be supplied from renewable energy.
The project will further reduce carbon emissions at the BASF Freeport site and offset more than 82,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually, based on EPA estimates.
X-ELIO's 72 MW Liberty Solar Photovoltaic project located in Houston is expected to be operational by 2024 and will generate 137 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean energy per year while delivering more than $130 million in capital investment in the state and creating up to 125 construction jobs. The project will also include a 60 MW Energy Storage System.
This agreement is aligned with X-ELIO's strategy to support all sectors on their path to a net-zero way of doing business as well as BASF's climate protection goals. BASF aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by the year 2030 compared with 2018 and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
In July, a report from LevelTen Energy found that North American solar and wind power purchase agreement prices continue to rise as demand outpaces supply, in addition to the potential impacts of a looming government investigation and inflation concerns. PPA prices have been increasing for more than two years, according to the report, and rose 5.3% in the second quarter, with solar prices up 8% and wind up 2.5%. Compared with the same time in 2021, prices are nearly 30% higher and have reached nearly $42 per megawatt-hour.