RWE delays start of 765MW German hard coal electricity unit to December 2014

RWE has delayed the commercial start of its new 765MW Westfalen D hard coal unit in Germany by nine months to December 2014 because of technical issues.

A total of 2.4GW new hard coal plant capacity is due to start commercial operations by the end of June, followed by a further 2.4GW in the second half of the year.

The start of RWE’s Westfalen D unit has already suffered delays after acid was accidentally filled into the boiler ( see EDEM 7 October 2013 ).

Unrelated to that incident, RWE noticed increased pressure when generating steam in the boiler, a spokesman told ICIS on Tuesday. While this is being investigated, RWE has pushed the planned start date of commercial operations back to 14 December 2014 as a precaution, the spokesman added.

The other 765MW hard coal unit Westfalen E is not impacted and should start commercial operation on 7 April 2014, according to transparency information from RWE.

Among the plants which are due to start commercial operations in the first half of the year are the 731MW GDF Suez hard coal unit Wilhelmshaven which is planned for the the end of June at the latest. The plant, which is located in the north of Germany, is currently in testing, a spokeswoman of the France-headquartered utility told ICIS on Monday in an email response.

In addition, EnBW’s 912MW Rheinhafendampfkraftwerk 8 (RDK8) is due to start in the first half of this year, a spokeswoman confirmed to ICIS on Tuesday.

In autumn, Vattenfall’s two new hard coal units with 830MW net capacity each are due to start commercial operations. First up is the Moorburg B unit in August followed by Moorburg A in October, a Vattenfall spokeswoman confirmed via email on Tuesday.

In 2015, the 845MW Grosskraftwerk Mannheim Block 9 (GKM9) is due to start commercial operations and potentially the 1.1GW Datteln 4 unit from E.ON. Martin Degen