Janschwalde power station

From Global Energy Monitor

Janschwalde power station is an operating power station of at least 2140-megawatts (MW) in Peitz, Spree-Neiße, Brandenburg, Germany with multiple units, some of which are not currently operating. It is also known as The innovative Jänschwalde storage power plant.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Janschwalde power station Peitz, Spree-Neiße, Brandenburg, Germany 51.835666, 14.457808 (exact)[1]

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • CC, Unit A, Unit B, Unit C, Unit D, Unit E, Unit F, Unit G: 51.835666, 14.457808

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology CHP Start year Retired year
CC Pre-construction[2][3] fossil gas: natural gas[2] 900[2] combined cycle[2][4] yes[2] 2028 (planned)[2][3]
Unit A Operating coal: lignite, bioenergy: refuse (municipal and industrial wastes) 535 subcritical 1981 2028 (planned)
Unit B Operating coal: lignite, bioenergy: refuse (municipal and industrial wastes) 535 subcritical 1982 2028 (planned)
Unit C Operating coal: lignite, bioenergy: refuse (municipal and industrial wastes) 535 subcritical 1984 2028 (planned)
Unit D Operating coal: lignite, bioenergy: refuse (municipal and industrial wastes) 535 subcritical 1985 2028 (planned)
Unit E Retired[5] coal: lignite 535 subcritical 1987 2024[5]
Unit F Retired[5] coal: lignite 535 subcritical 1989 2024[5]
Unit G Cancelled coal: lignite 2000 unknown 2030 (planned)

CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
CC Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG [100%][6] Energetický a průmyslový holding AS; other; PPF Investments Ltd
Unit A Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG [100%][6] Energetický a průmyslový holding AS; other; PPF Investments Ltd
Unit B Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG [100%][6] Energetický a průmyslový holding AS; other; PPF Investments Ltd
Unit C Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG [100%][6] Energetický a průmyslový holding AS; other; PPF Investments Ltd
Unit D Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG [100%][6] Energetický a průmyslový holding AS; other; PPF Investments Ltd
Unit E Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG [100%][6] Energetický a průmyslový holding AS; other; PPF Investments Ltd
Unit F Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG [100%][6] Energetický a průmyslový holding AS; other; PPF Investments Ltd
Unit G Lausitz Energie Kraftwerke AG [100%][6] Energetický a průmyslový holding AS; other; PPF Investments Ltd

Project-level coal details

  • Coal source(s): domestic, Jänschwalde and Cottbus mines

Background

The lignite fired Jänschwalde power plant had an installed capacity of 3000 MW, consisting of six 500 MW units. The six units were commissioned from 1981 to 1989. The units were later increased to 535 MW each. It is the second-largest brown coal power plant in operation in Germany and is owned by Swedish utility Vattenfall.[7] Units A-D co-fire with refuse, a waste-based fuel.[8]

Mothballed Units Spark Protest

In September 2022, climate activists successfully blocked the coal storage area, conveyor system and rail access of the plant, halving the day's power generation. The protest was sparked by the plant's owner seeking approval to reopen the two mothballed units (Units E and F) due to energy security concerns in light of the war in Ukraine.[9]

In October 2022, both mothballed units were brought back online following a special permit approval. They were permitted to operate until June 2023.[10]

In March 2024, Units E and F were retired.[11]

Proposed expansion

In February 2012, the state of Brandenburg proposed a further 2,000 MW of capacity at Janschwalde power station in its "Energy Strategy 2030". The expansion was to be equipped with CCS technology.[12]

With no additional updates on the expansion project in four years, the proposal was presumed to be cancelled in February 2016.

CCS plant

The plant had been selected as the site for a Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration project of oxyfuel technology. The tech had been initially trialled by Vattenfall at the Schwarze Pumpe power station. Vattenfall states that the Janschwalde CCS oxyfuel boiler project would be "of 650 MW thermal (around 250 MW electric), which is about 20 times more than Vattenfall's 30 MW pilot plant under construction and compares to today’s largest Oxyfuel test rigs of 0.5 MW." It also states that postcombustion capture technology will also be tested at Jänschwalde.[13]

Pollution

A 2011 analysis by the European environment agency (EEA), 'Revealing the costs of air pollution from industrial facilities in Europe,' estimated that the Janschwalde plant is the third largest polluting plant in all of Europe. Greenpeace and Oxfam protested in front of the plant in November 2011.[14]

Articles and Resources

References

  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20240530221856/https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/11341038. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 https://web.archive.org/web/20230124191227/https://www.leag.de/de/gigawattfactory/innovationskraftwerk/. Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. 3.0 3.1 https://www.energate-messenger.com/news/223620/leag-plans-hydrogen-power-plant-at-jaenschwalde-site. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20240530223829/https://www.leag.de/de/gigawattfactory/h2-kraftwerke/innovationskraftwerk/. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 https://web.archive.org/web/20240417021244/https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/energie-bonn-sieben-braunkohle-bloecke-stehen-vor-endgueltiger-stilllegung-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-240324-99-447277. Archived from the original on 17 April 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 https://web.archive.org/web/20240530225946/https://www.energate-messenger.com/news/233877/jaenschwalde-leag-hopes-for-connection-to-the-core-grid. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "Turbine retrofit in the Jänschwalde lignite fired power plant in Germany," PEI, 01/04/2011
  8. Piotr Krawczyk, Krzysztof Badyda and Aleksandra Mikołajczak "Possibilities of Waste Derived Fuel Use in the Energy Sector in Poland," Waste Management, Volume 8, 2018
  9. "Germany: Arrests as climate protests disrupt coal power plant, Berlin traffi", DW, September 19, 2022.
  10. "Zweiter Reserveblock im Kraftwerk Jänschwalde ist zurück am Netz", rbb24, October 17, 2022.
  11. "Sieben Braunkohle-Blöcke stehen vor endgültiger Stilllegung," Süddeutsche Zeitung, March 24, 2024
  12. "Energy Strategy 2030 of the State of Brandenburg," Ministry of Economic Affairs and European Affairs of the State of Brandenburg, February 2012
  13. Vattenfall, "Demonstration plant in Jänschwalde", Vattenfall, March 5, 2010.
  14. John Vidal and Hanna Gersmann, "Industrial pollution 'costs UK billions each year'" BBC, Nov. 24, 2011.

Additional data

To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datasets, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.