It is the end of an era: With the Westfalen power plants in Hamm and Ibbenbüren, the energy group RWE has finally taken the last two hard coal-fired power plants off the grid.
The energy group RWE has completely stopped generating electricity with hard coal. The Westfalen power plants in Hamm and Ibbenbüren have been offline for good since Thursday. Hard coal may no longer be burned at both locations, as RWE announced.
Last December, at the first nationwide decommissioning auction for hard coal-fired power plants, RWE received compensation of 216 million euros for shutting down the two power plants. As a result, RWE has not been allowed to market electricity from these systems since January of this year.
The power plant went into operation in a six-month standby phase
At the request of the transmission system operator, Westphalia connected to the grid 13 more times for reasons of security of supply. In the future, the power plant will take on a new role in the German electricity grid. The generator of the power plant is converted into a so-called phase shifter, which ensures that the power grid maintains the necessary voltage. Coal is no longer burned.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
