COLOGNE (dpa-AFX) - In order to improve its climate footprint, specialty chemicals group Lanxess will in future obtain half of its electricity from renewable energies at its sites in six cities. This is provided for by full power supply contracts over three years that Lanxess has concluded with the French energy company Engie. The green electricity will be sourced from seventeen wind farms and four solar parks in Germany, the companies announced in Cologne on Tuesday. Accordingly, sites in Bergkamen, Bitterfeld, Brilon, Brunsbüttel, Mannheim and two in the port of Antwerp will be supplied.

"Green electricity in our production also makes our products more sustainable - and therefore more attractive to our customers," said Lanxess' head of energy procurement, Rolf Kettner, according to the statement. Lanxess' carbon footprint is thus reduced by around 33,000 metric tons per year, he added.

The electricity supply contracts, which run for three years, have a total volume of 1400 gigawatt hours. By way of comparison, this amount of electricity could be used to supply around 117,000 households with an average annual consumption of 4,000 kilowatt hours during these three years. The companies did not provide any information on the price of the electricity supplied./tob/DP/jha