German Utility Seeks Clarity on Coal

Reacting to German media reports that the German government's coal commission is considering plans to compensate coal-fired plant operators to switch to gas, Uniper's COO Eckhardt Ruemmler emailed a statement to NGW: “It is important that the coal commission can bring its work to a constructive conclusion even at the last few metres. No one knows any more what they can rely on in the long term. That is why we urgently need this social consensus, which will last beyond election periods and set clear framework conditions for investments.”

Reports said that the commission, which was set up to work out the best way to stop burning coal and lignite to generate electricity, was finalising its findings and would publish recommendations shortly.

The German utility is also working on a state-of-the-art, anthracite-fired plant, Datteln 4, and Ruemmler took an uncompromising position on its commissioning. He said: “Every day, many hundreds of colleagues work hard and with great commitment on the commissioning of our state-of-the-art Datteln 4 power plant. The power plant is of central importance for the region and our customers. That is why we do not question the commissioning of Datteln 4. It is no secret that we have invested far more than €1.5bn ($1.7bn; original plan was €1bn) in this power plant, that there are long-term contractual obligations and that the power plant is therefore very relevant for our corporate planning. For a possible political request to stop Datteln 4, considerable legal and financial hurdles would have to be overcome.”

Datteln 4, which will replace Datteln 1-3 and have 1.1-GW capacity, will have an efficiency of 45% and is designed to emit no nitrogen oxides, dust or sulphur. About a third of the output will go to the German railway operator; the rest to the grid. It will also sell about 1 TWh/yr of heat.