SOLAR POWER HARDENS STEEL

Aldenhoven/Karlsruhe. Whether used in the automotive industry, wind energy, aerospace, or everyday life, components made of hardened steel are needed in many areas.

As a leading service provider in the field of hardening and surface technology, the HÄRTHA GROUP offers services that enhance the resilience, wear resistance, and other characteristics of components. Most of the applied finishing treatments are highly energy-intensive.

Based in North Rhine-Westphalia, HÄRTHA GROUP GmbH has been obtaining a portion of its required energy from the EnBW solar park in Massbach since 01 October 2022. To this end, HÄRTHA and EnBW concluded a 15-year Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (CPPA) for 10 megawatts of solar power.

CPPAs are an energy transition instrument devised to ensure price stability even in uncertain times

A year ago, EnBW put the 28 megawatt solar park in Bavaria into service. EnBW was able to realise approximately two thirds of this output – 18.3 megawatts – without any funding from the Renewable Energy Act (EEG). HÄRTHA GROUP GmbH secured their own share of this solar power, which is freely available on the market. CPPAs are particularly attractive to companies with energy-intensive production. They help companies achieve their climate goals quickly and efficiently. We are very thankful that we can support the treatment of steel at HÄRTHA by providing our solar power, thus making yet another contribution to the energy transition," explains Daniel Hacki, Head of Origination at EnBW.

"Our hardening and surface treatment services make a substantial contribution to implementing society’s sustainability objectives. For example, we enable our customers to make vehicle components that are more resilient yet lighter at the same time. We are proud to play a significant part in the promotion of electromobility. It should thus come as no surprise that we want to make our own energy consumption as sustainable as possible. In combination with the photovoltaic systems we operate at our own locations, this joint project with EnBW constitutes an additional and comprehensive source of sustainable power that helps us to lower our CO2 footprint dramatically," explains Sven Killmer, CEO of the HÄRTHA GROUP.

About Härtha

The HÄRTHA GROUP was founded in 1990 and is a successful group of companies. Headquartered in Aldenhoven, the Group is one of Europe's leading service providers of metal finishing through heat treatment processes and coating solutions. HÄRTHA operates with approx. 400 employees at 10 locations in Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. HÄRTHA attaches primary importance to protective production processes and uses the most efficient and state-of-the-art plant technology available.

About EnBW

With over 26,000 employees, EnBW is one of the largest energy companies in Germany and Europe. It supplies around 5.5 million customers with electricity, gas, and water, as well as services and products in the areas of infrastructure and energy. The expansion of renewable energies is a cornerstone of the company’s growth strategy and a focus of investment. EnBW will invest around 4 billion euros in the further expansion of wind and solar energy by 2025. By the end of 2025, more than half of the generation portfolio is set to consist of renewable energies. This is already having a noticeable effect on reducing CO₂ emissions, which EnBW aims to halve by 2030. EnBW is working toward climate neutrality by 2035.