Uniper has received a contract from grid operator TenneT to build a 300MW gas power plant in Irsching near Ingolstadt, Germany.
Image: Irsching power plant. Photo: Courtesy of Uniper SE.
Uniper has signed the contract to build and operate the plant and is expected to be operational by 1 October 2022.
The company claims that plant will be on stand-by to serve as a “safety cushion” by supplying power in special emergency circumstances.
Being a special grid facility, the plant is not allowed to serve the market and will instead be available on short notice any time system reliability is at risk, to ensure the supply system reliability going forward.
TenneT, along with industry partners Amprion and TransnetBW, in June 2018, issued a call for bids throughout Europe for a total capacity of 1200MW for special grid facilities, with no reference to any particular type of technology.
The 300MW projects are to be assigned for each of four regions in southern Germany. TenneT has awarded the present project as first contract for southern Bavarian region.
Uniper board member and COO Eckhardt Rümmler said: “I am pleased that Uniper won the competition for a ‘special grid facility’ to assure a reliable supply of electricity. For this, we will build and operate a new gas power plant. Their high flexibility makes gas power plants ideal for balancing out the increasing share of non-controllable electricity generated from wind and solar energy.
“They should therefore play an important role when it comes to Germany achieving its ambitious climate goals without incurring excessive risks in supplying industry and homes with electricity. Given the anticipated stable earnings it will generate, this project is a further step in implementing our strategy to significantly increase revenue that is not dependent on the wholesale market.”
Uniper claims that it is already operating several units at the site and the Ulrich Hartmann plant at Irsching was operational since 2011.
The Ulrich Hartmann plant operates with an efficiency rate of 60.4%, which is one of the most efficient combined cycle facilities worldwide, says the company.