Press release June 3, 2024
Invitation to public dialog
Iqony presents planned new power plant at Bergkamen site
Bergkamen/Unna/Essen. Iqony GmbH, a subsidiary of the Essen-based energy company STEAG, is planning to build a new, prospectively climate-neutral gas-fired power plant using hydrogen on the site of the existing power plant in the Heil district of Bergkamen. For the electricity system of tomorrow, Germany needs power plants that can step in when the sun is not shining and the wind is not blowing, and which will no longer emit CO2. One of these next-generation power plants is to be built at the Bergkamen site. Iqony is now presenting the current planning status of this project as part of a public dialog.
Interested residents who would like to find out more about the planned new power plant are invited to the visitor center of the Bergkamen power plant, Westenhellweg 111, on Monday, June 17, 2024, from 5 p.m. to around 7 p.m. Project manager Dr. Jens Reich will explain the project on behalf of Iqony and answer questions together with other members of the project team. Advance registration is not required.
New build power plant is a contribution to the coal phase-out
The new construction project is linked to the company’s declared aim of completing its own coal phase-out in the coming years. “We have already decommissioned several hard coal fired power plants since 2017. We also applied for the final decommissioning of the plant in Bergkamen in spring 2021,” explains Dr. Ralf Schiele, CEO and COO of Iqony.
After this had been decided on October 31, 2022, the coal-fired Bergkamen power plant, among others, was in the meantime tasked with reducing natural gas consumption in electricity generation, especially during the winters of 2022/2023 and 2023/2024, in order to prevent a possible gas shortage resulting from the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Existing plant classified as system-relevant
This contingency operation was ended at the end of March 2024. The power plant is now being kept operational as part of the grid reserve so that its output can be used to stabilize the electricity grid when required.
This situation can continue as long as the power plant capacity at the site cannot be compensated for by the addition of new generation facilities. “So if we are to have any chance at all of actually decommissioning the old hard coal fired unit at the same site in the long term, we need a new power plant. We are now planning this and would like to inform local residents about these plans in a direct conversation,” says Ralf Schiele.
Open question: power plant strategy
Iqony is currently preparing for the start of the approval process. A final investment decision is only expected when this process has been completed, and possibly even later. This is because important regulatory conditions are currently still lacking. “Together with numerous other power plant operators, we are still waiting for the power plant strategy announced by the German government months ago, which is to regulate the modalities for the establishment of new power plant capacity,” says Dr. Andreas Reichel, CEO and Labor Director of STEAG and Iqony.
For example, a mechanism has to be found to allow power plant operators to be remunerated for the provision of new generation capacity, because, “In future, the new power plants will only run for a few hundred hours per year, as they are essentially used to cover consumption peaks and ensure security of supply when wind and sun are not available to a sufficient extent. In this respect, a new power plant would not be able to pay for itself if it only generated revenue from the sale of the energy produced,” Andreas Reichel continues.
The fact that Iqony has embarked on the project planning for a new power plant in Bergkamen despite the fact that the regulatory framework has not yet been clarified is an expression of its fundamental willingness to invest. “We have made an upfront financial investment in this project because we are convinced of its merits. We expect that it will not only enable us to come closer to our goal of phasing out coal within the company and at the same time make a contribution to ensuring climate-neutral security of supply in the long term, but also offer secure, long-term employment prospects for our power plant teams with the new power plant at the Bergkamen site,” Andreas Reichel summarizes.
