German utility RWE, the country’s largest electricity producer, has signed a contract with the consortium formed by Técnicas Reunidas and Ansaldo Energia for the development of a hydrogen-ready combined cycle power plant as part of the company’s decarbonization and energy transition plan.
The planned powerplant will use Ansaldo Energia’s GT36 turbine, which is capable of generating electricity with up to 50% vol hydrogen mixed with natural gas, with the potential to upgrade to 100% hydrogen.
The plant with a capacity of 800 MW and 62 % efficiency is planned to be built on the existing RWE site of Weisweiler, near Cologne. Currently, there are four lignite-fired steam power plants in Weisweiler, which have to be closed under the German Coal exit law. The planned CCGT will help to provide dispatchable generation while reducing climate-changing emissions and allow further penetration of intermittent renewable energy in the market, which is crucial for the success of the German energy transition.
The scope of Técnicas Reunidas’ work will include the engineering of the permitting phase, which is to start immediately. Further parts of the contract awarded to Técnicas Reunidas contain the project engineering, supply of auxiliary equipment and the construction, commissioning and start-up of the plant. These are subject to RWE’s final investment decision, which will be taken after all the necessary permits have been obtained and once there is clarity about the overall economic viability of the project.
Ansaldo Energia will supply the GT36 gas turbine – the company’s most powerful and efficient gas turbine – and the steam turbine, its corresponding generators, the heat recovery boiler and other equipment.
The project will start with a permitting phase in which Técnicas Reunidas will undertake the preparation of the engineering and documentation necessary for its completion. This permitting phase is expected to take approximately two years. The construction phase, could start in 2025 and is expected to take 40 months.
Roger Miesen, CEO RWE Generation SE: “RWE is ready to play its part in green supply security by building hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants, thus enabling the German phase-out of coal by 2030. With the commissioned approval planning for Weisweiler, we are making progress towards ensuring completion of this 800 megawatt plant by the end of the decade”
As for Técnicas Reunidas, Business Development Director for Energy Transition & Power, Gonzalo Pardo Mocoroa, stressed that this major project “is part of the long experience accumulated by our company in the development of facilities that use fuels that are essential for the energy transition and of the strong momentum we are currently giving to our decarbonization activities”.
“This is the first GT36 turbine that could be installed in Germany. It is a great honor and privilege to be selected by one of the leading European utilities to be part of the country’s decarbonization process” says Fabrizio Fabbri, CEO Ansaldo Energia. “We are supplying our top-of-the-range engine with its unmatched operational flexibility, particularly in view of the unique sequential combustion to burn already today 50%vol hydrogen to support RWE in its ambitious plan to increase low-emission energy production”.
