RWE Closes Dutch Gas-Fired Plants

German utility RWE will mothball Moerdijk 1 (347.5 MW), one of its largest gas fuelled power plants in the Netherlands, from February 1 next year. It will definitively close its smaller, gas-fuelled plants in Den Bosch, Bergen op Zoom, Emmen and Klazienaveen (together 190.7 MW) on December 1 this year; they were mothballed in 2012.

Essent also says that the Claus power plant in Maastricht (1.914 GW), idle since 2014, will remain so. But Moerdijk 2 (426 MW) – contrary to the older Moerdijk 1 a NGCC plant and therefore more efficient – will be operational fulltime again. The past years it was only used in times of peak demand, which meant it was out of action most of the time. In 2018, less than 80% of RWE's gas fuelled power generation capacity will remain operational.

RWE refers to the current high gas prices to justify these decisions. "We don't expect this situation to change soon," it states. But low gas prices relative to coal were responsible for more CCGTs coming back on line in the Netherlands this summer. 

Moerdijk CCGT

(Credit: RWE)

Another reason is that a large industrial electricity consumer near Moerdijk 1 has not renewed its contract because it will start generating electricity itself. RWE is cancelling the other industrial contracts for this plant. Generally, power demand in the Netherlands is falling because companies and households increasingly are installing PV-systems, while houses are becoming more energy efficient.

Koen Mortelmans