Dutch Coal-Fired Plant Cleared For Operation

Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--A court decision in the Netherlands has opened the way for RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY) (Essen, Germany) to fire up its $3.1 billion Eemshaven coal-fired power plant.

The Council of State has overruled objections by environmental groups, including Greenpeace, who said the environmental license issued for the 1,600-megawatt (MW) Eemshaven plant in the northern port was improperly granted. Full commissioning has been delayed in recent years, while the project itself has been under construction since 2008. The plant was originally due for completion in 2014.

The objections to the plant had related to emissions and its location near nature reserves on the mud flats and nearby islands off the coast in the North Sea. The plant sits next to the listed Wadden Sea area and the Wadden Islands coastal wetland area. In 2011, Industrial Info reported that the Council of State had cancelled permits granted by the government in 2008 on environmental grounds. For additional information, see August 25, 2011, article - Court Stops RWE's Dutch Coal-fired Project.

The plant, which is owned by Dutch utility Essent NV (Arnhem), a subsidiary of German energy major RWE, will be capable of supplying enough power for approximately two million Dutch homes.

The project is supported by both the Dutch and German governments, as Dutch gas supplies dry up and Germany faces a power gap as its exits the nuclear power sector.

"We are satisfied with the fact that Council of State ruled that the issuing authorities and RWE did fulfil the requirements and that the Nature Permits are irrevocable now, too," Roger Miesen, chair of RWE Netherlands, told Power Engineering International. "The Eemshaven power plant is one of the most modern plants in the world. It is very flexible so it can balance the volatile production of solar and wind energy in an ideal way what is crucial for the security of supply in the Netherlands. Both blocks of the power plant are in commercial operation since the middle of 2015 and our staff is happy that the plant can be run in normal operation further on."

The plant uses two 800-MW ultra-supercritical boilers from French manufacturer Alstom SA (EPA:ALO) (Levallois-Perret, France). The boilers are designed to operate under ultra-supercritical steam conditions at efficiencies of about 47% and require 20% less coal for the same power output than previous generations of equipment. The units are also designed to co-fire up to 10% biomass and can be retrofitted with carbon capture and storage (CCS) equipment.

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