RWE to Build 300-MW Gas-Fired Reserve Plant in Germany

Germany's RWE Generation has received a contract to build and operate a 300-MW gas-fired power plant in southern Hesse that will serve as a reserve source of power, the company said on November 13.

The contract was awarded by transmission system operator Amprion. Due on stream by October 2022, the station will be operated only at the request of system operators to provide electricity at short notice when the region is experiencing a shortfall in supply.

The plant will be situated just south of RWE's Biblis nuclear power plant, which was shut down in 2011 and is undergoing decommissioning. Germany has committed to phasing out all nuclear power by the end of 2022. Establishing more gas-fired reserve power is seen as a means of ensuring supply security as this baseload capacity is removed and Germany increases its renewable energy generation.

"“We are delighted that we were awarded the contract for the Biblis site. The excellent existing infrastructure there and our reliable and flexible concept for the plant have won out," RWE Generation CEO Roger Miesen said in a statement. "We will thus be able to make an important contribution towards security of supply in Southern Hesse."