OREANDA-NEWS. Karlsruhe. Following extensive reviews of the commercial efficiency of its conventional power plant park, EnBW plans to shut down a total of four power plant units with a total output of 668 MW at its power plant locations in Marbach and Walheim. The Supervisory Board of EnBW Energie Baden-Wurttemberg AG has today approved a corresponding resolution proposal put forward by the EnBW Board of Management. This resolution, which was today communicated to the transmission system operators (TSOs) and the Federal Network Agency (BNetzA), comprises the formal precondition for the TSOs to conduct a system security review as to whether and when the power plant units can be shut down.

Rapid structural change in the energy sector forms the background to this decision. Especially as a result of the marked additional construction of renewable energy sources, numerous fossil plant are exposed to great commercial and financial pressure, and frequently continue to be operated solely as “marginal power plants”. This is resulting in a drastic fall in revenue. Especially gas power stations but also older coal power plants and oil-fired systems can no longer cover their full costs given today's electricity market prices, and can consequently not be operated on a commercially viable basis.

For this reason, the heating oil-fired co-generation unit III and gas turbine III at the Marbach site and hard coal power stations 1 and 2 in Walheim are to be shut down at the earliest legally possible date. This represents a final shutdown of the plants in the meaning of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG) and the German Reserve Power Plant Directive (ResKV). The plants that are affected currently employ around 100 staff for whom socially acceptable personnel measures are being developed.

The amended German Energy Industry Act (EnWG) and the German Reserve Power Plant Directive (ResKV) make provision whereby final shutdowns must be announced at least 12 months in advance to the relevant transmission system operator and the Federal Network Agency. In the next step, the TSO then examines the power plants' system relevance, and determines the timing of the shutdown in coordination with the Federal Network Agency. System-relevant power plants can be included in the network reserve of the German Reserve Power Plant Directive with corresponding payment until their final shutdown.

EnBW is in discussions with the Federal Network Agency concerning the relatively new and flexibly deployable RDK 4 gas and steam turbine power plant in Karlsruhe. RDK 4 is currently hardly being utilised, and is consequently also unable to cover its full costs. As far as potential changes to market design are concerned, the potential of a later recommissioning is to be left open. EnBW aims to shut down the plant on a short-term and provisional basis as a consequence.

EnBW currently operates total output of around 4,290 MW from conventional power plants located in Baden-Wurttemberg. In addition, the highly modern RDK 8 hard coal power plant in Karlsruhe with around 900 MW is currently in the commissioning stage. In Mannheim, a further hard coal power plant (GKM 9) - in which EnBW also holds an interest - is being constructed. As a consequence, EnBW's conventional power plant park continues to make an important contribution to securing supplies in Baden-Wurttemberg even after the planned shutdowns.

Along with the massive expansion of renewable energies - whose share in EnBW's energy mix is to be more than tripled by 2020 - EnBW remains committed as part of its strategic reorientation to providing secured output from conventional power plants with a focus on Baden-Wurttemberg. At least for a certain transitional period, the secure and highly efficient operation of the conventional generating park remains an important element of the “Engine room of the new energy concept” and a guarantee of supply security.