Uniper Wins Auction to Close German Coal Plant
German utility Uniper is preparing to cease commercial operations at its 875-MW Heyden 4 anthracite power plant in North Rhine Westphalia with effect from January 1, it said December 1. Permanent closure will happen six months later, provided that the transmission system operator does not deem it relevant to the system.
To replace its fleet of coal fired plants, Uniper is developing gas-fired combined heat and power plants which deliver district heating and electricity. It is also planning to build plants for the industrial production of hydrogen.
The federal network agency BNA announced auctions to close plants in August and the first round for 4 GW capacity was held in September.
Uniper is aiming to reduce its CO2 emissions in Germany by up to 40% over the next five years through the planned voluntary closure of old and inefficient plants and by commissioning the Datteln 4 super-efficient coal-fired power plant.
CEO Andreas Schierenbeck said that BNA's first auction "provided a very early exit opportunity for the Heyden power plant, an opportunity that we have made the most of.... The sooner we have planning certainty for the future, the more consistently we can approach our new projects, for example our projects in the hydrogen sector."
However, he said, phasing out coal is a political goal and will cost jobs. Uniper is in talks with labour representatives.
Uniper presented a plan for closing its anthracite-fired plants in January 2020 with the aim of saving up to 18mn metric tons/year of CO2. It also sets out its plan to close similar power plant blocks at the Gelsenkirchen Scholven, Heyden, Staudinger and Wilhelmshaven sites by the end of 2025 at the latest. These power plants have a combined total output of around 2.9 GW.