German TSOs Revise Ten-Year Plan
German gas transmission system operators (TSOs) have submitted a second draft of their 2016-2026 gas network development plan to Germany's federal networks regulator (Bundesnetzagentur) and have published it, their trade association FNB Gas said April 5.
The 12 TSOs, which together operate 40,000km of transmission pipelines, had to revise their previous draft to take account of the planned new gas-fired power stations (CCGTs) at Altbach and Heilbronn am Neckar in the southwest German state of Baden-Wurttemberg, to replace coal-fired units that have been or are being retired. Their second draft was put out for public consultation between February 27 and March 17 and responses were analysed.
An additional 25km of pipelines and 16 MW of compressor capacity will be needed to take account of the two power stations to be added.
“This increases the overall investment volume of the 2016-2026 plan by €102mn, to a total of €4.5bn,” said FNB Gas managing director Inga Posch.
The federal networks regulator is expected to run its own consultation on this second draft soon. FNB Gas said the regulator may then ask it to revise its plan, following which it will have three months to finalise the 2016-2026 plan.
An executive summary in English, detailing the revised plan's target to install some 827 km of new pipelines by 2027 and adding 567 MW of compression capacity at an overall cost of €4.5bn, can be accessed here. Much of the extra spending is on additional capacity planned following the expected expansion of the subsea Nord Stream pipeline (by adding NS2) to meet the increased demand for high calorific gas in Germany.
Yet Irsching owners determined to shut CCGTs
Despite plans above for the new gas-fired generation capacity, owners of the Irsching-5 CCGT power plant (Uniper, N-Ergie, Mainova and Entega) announced March 29 its closure to the federal network regulator, and to power network operator TenneT, with effect from April 1 2018. Alongside this, and for the same reason, Uniper as the sole owner of the Irsching-4 CCGT also announced the mothballing of that block from the same date.
Two years ago the firms took the same decision, but it was deferred. Now they have said again they see no viable market prospects for the power plants, which opened in 2010 in the south German state of Bavaria, as owners are "not given appropriate remuneration" for their use in the market. The state-of-the-art plants are "sitting on the substitutes' bench," Uniper said. Their efficiencies are around 60%, which is the top end for a gas-fired plant. Most of Germany's wind energy is in the north and there is a shortage of transmission capacity south.
On April 7, the European Commission launched an in-depth probe into Germany's planned 2 GW electricity capacity reserve.
Mark Smedley