Uniper Begins Converting Scholven Plant to Gas

German utility Uniper has begun building two gas turbines and a steam boiler at the hard coal-fired Scholven power plant site, it said February 6. The conversion of the site "will not only massively reduce the emission of climate-damaging substances such as CO2" but the absence of lorries carrying coal will make life a lot quieter for the residents nearby, it said.

Uniper said the entire production of the new plant would be "tailored to the needs of the surrounding industry. The products Uniper generates here – electricity, heat, steam and, if necessary, later also de-mineralised water and compressed air – are purchased and consumed by our customers in the immediate vicinity."

Scholven initially produced power solely to meet the needs of a colliery but as more industry arrived, by the 1960s Scholven developed into a giant 3-GW plant, one of Europe's largest.

Units B and C and the district heating power plant Buer generate a total of 762 MW (net) electricity. In addition, the group of units generates up to 250 MW as steam for industry and district heating for over 100,000 households as well as public and social facilities in the region. Uniper said the transformation of Scholven was "a prime example of our strategic focus on industrial solutions in partnership with our industrial customers, who in turn can focus on their own core business.”

Germany has committed to close its last coal or lignite plant by 2038 and Uniper said January 31 that 2.9 GW would go by late 2o22, mostly at Scholven.