Statkraft Idles German Power Plants

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) - Norwegian energy major, Statkraft AS (Oslo, Norway), has announced the idling of two gas-fired plants in Germany due to weak demand and high gas prices.

The company has halted power production at its Knapsack and Herdecke plants with a combined generating capacity of 1,200-megawatts (MW). The moves comes just five months after the company announced the closure of its 519 MW Robert Frank gas-fired plant in Lower Saxony, Germany, for similar reasons. For additional information, see March 21, 2013, article - Statkraft Shutting German Gas-Fired Plant.

The two plants will be placed in what is called 'wet reserve', which means they can be brought back online relatively quickly if demand increases.

"[In Germany] short-term power prices have continued to fall, worsening the margin between power and gas prices," explained Yngve Froeshaug, Statkraft's vice-president for investor relations at a financial results briefing. "Due to this, our gas power plants in Knapsack and Herdecke for the time being are out of production - that is in the wet reserve."

Knapsack I has a capacity of 800 MW and was commissioned in 2007, while Herdecke, also commissioned in 2007, has a generating capacity of 400 MW and is 50% owned by German energy company, Mark-E.

Although the older plant, Knapsack I, is being idled, Statkraft's state-of-the-art Knapsack II combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant , which was only commissioned in June, will continue to operate. For additional information, see June 10, 2013, article - Statkraft Fires Up Hurth Knapsack II Gas-Fired Plant.

Statkraft's latest call is one in a long line of gas-plant closures in Germany. At the beginning of last year the company placed its 430 MW Emden gas-fired power plant in cold reserve, claiming it was unsure about the plant's future profitability. Plans to replace the old plant with a new one in the same location were also put on ice.

Today, the company remains unsure about the future of the conventional power market in Germany. "It's hard to comment on what will happen in the future, but looking at the total gas portfolio in our balance sheet, it's a fairly small part," stated Statkraft Chief Financial Officer, Jens Bjoern

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