German Authorities Approve Construction of 850-Megawatt Coal-Fired Power Plant

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Local authorities recently granted approvals for emissions, building design, and water-quality for the planned coal power station at Ingelheimer Aue, a Rhine peninsula close to Mainz, Germany. The decision was taken a few days ago based on the applications of Kraftwerke Mainz-Wiesbaden AG (KMW AG), which plans to construct the 850-megawatt coal plant by 2013 for about $1.4 billion.

The authority's decisions include various conditions and stipulations. In more than 500 pages, the approval report describes how the plant should be constructed and operated. One of the most critical points is the future environmental impact of the plant for which strict emission limits for air pollution have been set. KMW AG has been forced to reduce the original planned nitrogen-oxide and dust emissions by half.

Opponents to the power plant have also criticized the visual impact of the facility. As a result, the architectural appearance of the plant will also be changed.

Authorities have approved the construction of a shipping peer on the Rhine, as well as water sampling methods and the discharge of heated water into the Rhine. To reduce the environmental impact, the total head load has to be minimized, the German authorities concluded. Therefore the cooling water discharge temperature must not exceed the 88 degrees Fahrenheit in order to protect the fish in the area.

The Structural and Approval Directorate has taken more than a year to address more than 45,000 objections from citizens opposed to the original plans of the facility. From February 17, the one-month opposition period regarding the provisional decision begins to run. The town government of Wiesbaden, one of the opponents has already announced that it will enter an objection against the approval.

The main contractor for the power plant is Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) (Munich, Germany),and the boiler suppliers are IHI Charging Systems International GmbH (Heidelberg, Germany) and Austria Energy and Environment (Osterreich, Austria).

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