(Gelsenkirchen) - The Gelsenkirchen-Scholven hard coal power plant owned by the utility Uniper SE is to be redesigned by the construction of a gas and steam plant (CCGT) by autumn 2022. The company announced that this will then be switched from firing with natural gas to using green hydrogen by 2030.
The decommissioning of the Scholven C hard coal reactor within the next two years is the result of an auction under the law to reduce and end coal-fired power generation. The Federal Network Agency has now published the results of the third tender.
According to Uniper's own information, this means that it has had a chance in each of the previous three auctions: With the notices for the Heyden 4 (875 MW), Wilhelmshaven 1 (757 MW) and now Scholven C (345 MW) power plants, the energy supplier is taking a total of 1.977 megawatts of hard coal capacity ahead of schedule from the market.
Coal chapter will be “quickly closed”
“Scholven is an important element in the decarbonization of our European gas turbine fleet,” said Uniper’s COO David Bryson. “We are quickly closing the coal chapter, using gas for the transition and gradually moving towards hydrogen with zero emissions.”
Gelsenkirchen-Scholven has been an important industrial location for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for more than 100 years. According to the company, the power plant was at times the largest hard coal-fired power plant in Germany in the mid-XNUMXs and one of the largest in Europe.
In January 2020, Uniper presented a decommissioning plan for the hard coal-fired power plants in Germany, which is intended to achieve savings of up to around 18 million tons of CO2 per year. It plans to shut down hard coal-fired power plants with a total output of around 2025 megawatts by the end of 2.900 at the latest. With around 35 gigawatts of installed capacity, Uniper is one of the largest electricity producers in the world.
H2 plans for Huntdorf, Wilhelmshaven and Russia
Uniper SE emerged from the Eon Group by spinning off conventional electricity generation from fossil sources and global energy trading. The main shareholder since March 2020 has been the Finnish power plant operator Fortum Oyj, in which the Finnish state in turn has a 50,8 percent stake.
As reported, the two energy suppliers reallocated their business areas in May in accordance with what the companies call a “one team” approach. It is therefore incumbent Fortum responsibility for the management and operation of Uniper's hydropower plants in Sweden as well as optimizing business in the Nordic countries. Uniper, in contrast, is taking the lead in developing the wind, solar and hydrogen business.
Furthermore, they have EWE AG and Uniper SE signed a cooperation agreement in the spring according to which they want to establish a hydrogen hub in Huntorf near Elsfleth in Lower Saxony. In the future, green hydrogen for industry and the mobility sector will be produced and stored there using wind power.
Uniper also wants in Wilhelmshaven establish a “national hub for hydrogen”. An import terminal for green ammonia and an “ammonia cracker” that breaks down ammonia (NH3) into its components hydrogen and nitrogen are planned. Commissioning is scheduled for the second half of this decade.
Together with the Russian gas company Pao Novatek Uniper is examining the possibilities of supplying power plants in northwestern Europe with hydrogen. This includes production, transport and the development of a supply chain.
Photos
Scholven hard coal power plant / © Uniper
