Ranked: Salzgitter's Renewable Power Contracts, Where Octopus' Schiebsdorf Solar Sits

Octopus Energy has agreed to sell ten years of solar power from its Schiebsdorf farm in Brandenburg to Salzgitter, the steelmaker. When it was announced, it was the largest renewable power contract Salzgitter had signed. It was also shorter than most of the others, and the solar farm had only just started construction.

Key takeaways

• Octopus Energy signed a 10-year power purchase agreement with Salzgitter Group, announced on 21 February 2024, to supply 126,000 MWh of electricity a year from the Schiebsdorf solar farm in Brandenburg, Germany, to support green steel production under Salzgitter's SALCOS programme.
• The Sky fund managed by Octopus Energy Generation acquired the 122 MWp Schiebsdorf solar project from ib vogt in January 2024, Octopus Energy Generation's first investment in the German solar market; ib vogt provides engineering, procurement and construction services and will manage operations and maintenance.
• Construction at Schiebsdorf began in January 2024 on 83.8 hectares, with commercial operation expected in Q3 2024, and the project benefits from a community participation agreement under the German EEG 20-year feed-in premium regime.
• Enerdatics records 11 PPAs signed by Salzgitter Group or its subsidiary Salzgitter Flachstahl between November 2022 and September 2026, nine with disclosed capacity totalling about 822 MW, and the 122 MW Schiebsdorf contract ranks second by capacity.
• Five of Salzgitter's PPAs that disclose a term run for 15 years, while the Octopus Schiebsdorf contract is one of two that run for 10 years.

Why does a steelmaker need contracts like this one?

Because lower-carbon steelmaking moves a large share of a plant's energy demand onto electricity. SALCOS is Salzgitter's programme for that shift. The more of the process that runs on power, the more the climate result depends on where the power comes from.

A power purchase agreement, or PPA, is a long-term contract to buy electricity from a named source on terms set in advance. For a steelmaker, a PPA does two jobs. It ties a measurable volume of demand to a renewable plant, and it fixes the cost of that volume for the term of the contract.

Schiebsdorf's 126,000 MWh a year adds up to about 1,260 GWh over ten years. Pexapark acted as financial adviser to Octopus Energy on the agreement.

How does Schiebsdorf rank among Salzgitter's power contracts?

It ranks second by contracted capacity among the nine Salzgitter PPAs in Leap that disclose a figure:

1. Zelestra, solar and battery portfolio, 147 MW, signed by Salzgitter Flachstahl, September 2026, term not disclosed.
2. Octopus, Schiebsdorf solar, 122 MW, February 2024, 10 years.
3. Energiekontor, two solar projects, 116 MW, September 2024, 15 years.
4. Iberdrola, Baltic Eagle offshore wind, 114 MW, April 2023, 15 years.
5. Friesen Elektra, Sande hybrid energy park, 80 MW, October 2023, term not disclosed.
6. Vattenfall, Nordlicht 1 offshore wind, 75 MW, August 2024, 15 years.
7. Iberdrola, Saxony-Anhalt solar, 60 MW, April 2024, 15 years.
8. RWE, Boitzenburger Land solar, 58.28 MW, August 2024, 7 years.
9. EnBW, He Dreiht offshore wind, 50 MW, November 2022, 15 years.

Two more contracts disclose no capacity: a 10-year solar PPA with Merbitz Solar in March 2024 and a 3-year wind PPA with ENGIE in December 2022. On the day it was announced, Schiebsdorf was the largest Salzgitter contract on record, ahead of the 114 MW from Baltic Eagle.

Why is the biggest contract at signing also one of the shortest?

Because it is a different kind of asset. Three of Salzgitter's five 15-year contracts are with offshore wind farms, sold by Iberdrola, Vattenfall and EnBW. Schiebsdorf is a solar farm owned by a fund, bought in construction and contracted within a month of the purchase.

A ten-year term leaves the later years of Schiebsdorf's output open. The acquisition record also notes the community participation agreement under the EEG feed-in premium regime, which runs for 20 years. The record does not explain how the two arrangements interact, so the split of value between the PPA and the feed-in premium cannot be read from it.

There is also a supplier detail worth noting. The announcement credits Octopus Energy, while Leap records the PPA supplier as Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust and the acquisition buyer as the Sky fund managed by Octopus Energy Generation. Readers tracking Octopus' German exposure should treat these as related vehicles rather than one balance sheet.

Enerdatics' data shows where Schiebsdorf sits in the wider German solar market. Of 25 solar PPAs announced in Germany between July 2023 and June 2024, 17 disclose capacity. At 122 MW, Schiebsdorf is fifth, behind HANSAINVEST's 600 MW and Microsoft's 323 MW contracts at Witznitz, LyondellBasell's 208 MW contract with Encavis and Evonik's 123 MW contract with Vattenfall. Salzgitter appears as buyer on three of the 25.

What does the deal signal for German green steel buyers?

That steelmakers are building supply books, not signing single contracts. Salzgitter's eleven recorded PPAs span offshore wind, onshore wind, solar, a hybrid park and, most recently, solar with batteries. The sellers range from large utilities to developers and investment funds. No single contract covers more than about 18 percent of the disclosed capacity.

The pace also changed in 2024. Enerdatics records two Salzgitter PPAs in 2022 and two in 2023, then six in 2024. Schiebsdorf was the first of those six, followed by Merbitz Solar in March and Iberdrola's Saxony-Anhalt solar contract in April. Solar made up five of the six, against none recorded under solar in the two years before.

Other German steelmakers have taken a narrower route. thyssenkrupp Steel, for example, has a ten-year contract with RWE's Kaskasi offshore wind farm for its first direct reduction plant in Duisburg. Salzgitter's approach spreads technology, timing and counterparty risk across many contracts.

For Octopus, the deal turned a fresh acquisition into a contracted asset within a month. Octopus Energy had said in March 2024 that it planned to invest more than $1 billion in Germany's energy infrastructure by 2027, and it noted it was collaborating with Salzgitter to supply solar power. Schiebsdorf is the first visible result of that relationship.

Frequently asked questions

How much power will Octopus supply to Salzgitter from Schiebsdorf? About 126,000 MWh a year for ten years, from the 122 MWp Schiebsdorf solar farm in Brandenburg, to support Salzgitter's SALCOS green steel programme.

Who built the Schiebsdorf solar farm? ib vogt sold the project to Octopus in January 2024 and provides engineering, procurement and construction services, and will manage operations and maintenance once the farm is running.

How many renewable power contracts has Salzgitter signed? Enerdatics records 11 PPAs signed by Salzgitter Group or Salzgitter Flachstahl between November 2022 and September 2026, nine of them with disclosed capacity totalling about 822 MW.

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