BASF’s Performance Materials Division Plants Now Run Entirely on Renewable Electricity in Europe

On January 1, 2025, BASF’s Performance Materials division completely switched all its European sites to renewable electricity. “As BASF, we want to enable our customers green transformation, and we believe it starts with us. This is our ambition and the goal of #OurPlasticsJourney,” said Martin Jung, President of BASF’s Performance Materials division. “The use of electricity from renewable sources such as wind or solar is necessary to achieve our climate targets.” The changeover applies to the compounding of Engineering Plastics, Polyurethanes and Thermoplastic Polyurethanes and Specialty Polymers. With the turn of the year, in total nine Performance Materials production sites across Europe have been converted.

Renewable electricity also plays an important role in the whole value chain such as in the choice of suppliers. For example, BASF Performance Materials sources glass fibers for the reinforcement of plastics from 3B Fibreglass, one of BASF’s suppliers that uses solar panels to generate electricity and has thus significantly reduced its carbon emissions. The reduced CO₂ footprint of glass fibers is transferred to BASF’s products and ultimately to its customers. Such improvements will also apply within BASF’s value chain, to produce base polymers and other precursors for Engineering Plastics and Polyurethanes. “Ludwigshafen, as the world’s largest integrated chemical complex, cannot switch completely to renewable electricity from one day to the next. Our own combined cycle gas power plants produce electricity and process steam with a 95% efficiency at emissions far below the average grid level. The switch at this site has to be done gradually and we, at Performance Materials, are a leading part of this transformation,” adds Alexander Weiser, Senior Vice President, Head of BASF Performance Materials Europe.

Within the next few years, BASF intends to continuously convert all its operations globally to renewable electricity. This will be achieved through the expansion of renewable energy production via significant projects. For example, the world’s biggest offshore windfarm owned by BASF and Vattenfall and located on the Hollandse Kust Zuid started its operations in 2023 and enables innovative, emission-free technologies at several production sites all over Europe. Schwarzheide, BASF’s second largest site in Germany, now integrates a 24-megawatt capacity from solar energy. “However, renewable electricity is not the only lever for reducing CO2 emissions. Green steam made from the electrification of processes and the use of alternative raw materials via the mass balance approach play an essential role in the transformation towards a sustainable chemical industry,” adds Jung.

BASF aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2030 compared to the base year 2018 and become climate-neutral by 2050. To achieve this ambitious goal, BASF is increasingly focusing on renewable energy, optimizing raw material procurement and production processes, and promoting and implementing a circular economy.