However, prospects for CCGT plants in Germany improve considerably if the project includes cogeneration, as was the case for Stadtwerke Düsseldorf’s Fortuna unit, which employs Siemens H class technology. A further illustration of this is the recent award to Siemens of a contract by Steag GuD Herne GmbH for the turnkey construction of the H class 600 MWe/400 MWt Herne 6 combined cycle cogeneration power plant, which will include steam extraction for use in the district heating grid of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.
The investment is described as being “in the mid-triple-digit euro range.”
As general contractor, Siemens will build the plant on the site of an existing facility owned by Steag in Herne, a central feed in point for the Steag district heating system.
Steag has initiated the so-called ‘preliminary decision procedure’ with the district government in Arnsberg.
Arnsberg’s final approval is expected in mid-2019. The final decision on the construction of the plant is also due at that time. Parallel to the approval procedurMePS, preparatory work will be carried out in autumn 2018, with dismantling of minor building structures and civil engineering work for drainage.
The plant has to be in continuous commercial operation by the end of December 2022 at the latest, as only then will it benefit from subsidies under Germany’s CHP Act (KWKG) for high efficiency low-emissions plants.
