RWE to Build Werne Hydrogen-Gas Power Plant

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Germany's RWE AG (Essen, Germany) has announced plans for a hydrogen-ready combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant in Werne as part of the company's shift away from coal-fired power.

The proposed plant in the southern Münsterland region in western Germany will be located on the site of a former coal-fired plant and existing gas-fired plant built in the 1970s. When commissioned in 2030, the 800-megawatt (MW) plant will have a fuel mix of at least 50% hydrogen before transitioning to 100% hydrogen.

This is the second proposed hydrogen-ready gas-fired plant proposed by RWE. The company announced a similar 800-MW plant to be located at its Weisweiler site, which is home to a 1,600-MW coal-fired plant that will be phased out by 2029. "With the approval planning for a hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plant at the Gersteinwerk, we are taking proactive measures to keep the chance of completion by 2030 open," said Nikolaus Valerius, chief executive officer of RWE Generation SE. "With the construction of the new power plant, we are ready to contribute to green security of supply and thus secure the coal phase-out by 2030. This requires policymakers to quickly make some key decisions. We can only make a final investment decision once the connection of the site to a hydrogen network has been secured and the framework conditions allow for a commercially viable operation of the power plants."

The "policymakers" in question are the German coalition government, which earlier this year announced an ambitious plan to offer US$17 billion in funding to support the construction of up to 10 gigawatts (GW) of gas-fired power plants that will be capable of transitioning to hydrogen. The Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) said that the proposed plan would allow for the development of "highly flexible and climate friendly" power plants. The first tender is expected to be launched this summer. Hydrogen transition plans will be in place by 2032 in order for the four plants to begin transitioning to hydrogen between 2035 and 2040. Germany's plan to subsidize what will be the largest rollout of new gas-fired power plants in Europe has yet to get the green light from the European Union (EU).

For both proposed projects, RWE has signed tenders with a consortium of Italy's Ansaldo Energia (Genova, Italy) and Spain's Tecnicas Reunidas (Madrid, Spain) to plan them. Ansaldo Energia is to supply the entire power island, which includes a GT36 gas turbine and related generator, a steam turbine and related generator, a heat recovery steam generator, condenser and auxiliary systems. The GT36 is already capable of operating with a blend of 50% hydrogen, according to Ansaldo, with the potential to upgrade to 100% hydrogen.

RWE has been busy shutting coal-fired plants in recent years. In March, the company said it was permanently shutting another five units with a total of 2,100 MW of capacity as part of its 2030 coal phase-out promise. It has decommissioned 12 lignite-fired power plant units with a total output of 4,200 MW since the end of 2020. By next year, only seven of the former 20 power plant units will still be in operation.

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