Koehler Paper has teamed up with steel producer Badische Stahlwerke (BSW) and the Rhine port of Kehl to study the feasibility of harvesting wind energy at the port facilities. They hope to find out if building wind turbines is a feasible solution to suppling their own energy at the companies’ sites in Kehl.
Both companies need to source a significant quantity of electricity from renewables to meet the climate goals of the German national government and the government of the state of Baden-Württemberg, as well as the self-imposed climate goals of the companies themselves.
Koehler Renewable Energy and Ökostromgruppe Freiburg, a green-energy company, will provide support for the wind energy feasibility study. A species protection assessment and an environmental impact study have already been commissioned. Wind measurements are scheduled to start in June.
The study is scheduled to last through the summer of 2025, and should indicate whether the site is suitable for wind turbines. If the results are positive, Ökostromgruppe Freiburg and Koehler Renewable Energy expect to submit an application for the construction of a wind power plant by the end of 2025.
Dr. Stefan Karrer, Koehler COO, said: “If the results of the feasibility study are positive and we are able to construct a wind energy plant at the facilities of the Rhine port of Kehl, it would mean huge progress in the effort to supply our own energy needs. This is one of the most urgent topics for a company with energy-intensive production processes such as ours. How can we secure our energy supply over the long-term and thus guarantee the economic viability of the site? Securing our sites and protecting jobs in Germany for years to come is our driving concern here.”
