Ensdorf power plant
| Ensdorf power plant | |||
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| location | |||
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| Coordinates | 49 ° 17 '32 " N , 6 ° 46' 15" E | ||
| country |
 Germany
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| Data | |||
| Type | Steam power plant | ||
| Primary energy | Fossil energy | ||
| fuel | Bituminous coal , substitute fuels ( animal meal , sewage sludge, etc.) | ||
| power | 430 megawatts | ||
| owner | VSE AG | ||
| operator | VSE AG | ||
| Start of operations | 1961 | ||
| Shutdown | 2017 | ||
| turbine | Steam turbines | ||
| Firing | Melting chamber firing | ||
| Energy fed in per year | approx. 2000 GWh | ||
| Website | VSE AG - Ensdorf power plant | ||
The Ensdorf power plant is a decommissioned German coal-fired power plant near Ensdorf in Saarland . It had an output of 430 megawatts and was operated with hard coal . The first power plant at the Ensdorf site was built in 1961 by VSE AG with two units with an electrical output of 120 MW each; Unit 3 followed in 1972. Unit 2 was shut down in the mid-1990s.
When it was shut down , the power plant had two units that produced around two billion kWh of electricity annually. The chimney of block 1 is 150 meters high, that of block 3 is 180 meters high; the chimney of block 2 was dismantled.
From 2018, VSE plans to use the area freed up by the closure as an industrial park under the name "Energy and Resource Center Ensdorf (ERZ)".
Old systems
Both units 1 and 3 had a melting chamber firing system and were mainly supplied with ballast coal from the neighboring Ensdorf mine . There was also a permit for the incineration of animal meal , sewage sludge and other alternative fuels. The Saar mine, the former main supplier, was shut down on June 30, 2012 as the last mine in Saarland. The old power plants were then operated with imported coal.
Unit 1 with an output of 120 MW belonged to VSE AG , Saarbrücken, in which RWE in turn owned a majority stake. Block 3 (output: 310 MW) belonged to RWE until 2011 and was operated by VSE on their behalf. In 2011 VSE took over this block together with Saarstahl AG . Saarstahl thus generated some of the electricity it needed for steel production and processing itself.
Shutdown
On June 14, 2017, VSE AG announced that it would shut down the power plant on December 31, 2017. The companies Saarstahl AG (SAG) and Saarschmiede GmbH Freiformschmiede (SSF) have decided to terminate the lease and operational management contracts for Unit 3 of the Ensdorf power plant on December 31, 2017 and thus only generate electricity in the Ensdorf power plant until the end of 2017. The power plant was finally shut down in mid-December 2017.
Rejected new building planning
Coal double block
The RWE Power AG announced on 23 November 2006 its intention to build a coal twin unit with a capacity of 1600 megawatts at Ensdorf. Investments of around two billion euros were planned for the implementation. Commissioning should take place in 2012.
On March 23, 2007, a "Citizens' Initiative for Climate and Environmental Protection" was founded against the planned double coal bloc, which feared massive effects on the environment of the entire region. The resistance was supported by BUND, NABU, Greenpeace , Saarland Section, the Energiewende Saar eV and the Greens Saar.
The Saarland Doctors' Syndicate, an association of around 1,700 doctors, also spoke out unanimously against the RWE project at its delegate assembly in early July 2007. In a resolution it was pointed out that when the two planned units are fully operational, an approved additional annual amount of 700 t of fine dust , 7,000 t of sulfur dioxide , nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide, 1 t of mercury , other toxic metals and other organic compounds into the atmosphere and thus into the Environment. The pollution at the location and along the Saar valley is already too high from a medical point of view. The situation in Saarland is that it cannot be a question of preventing an even higher level of pollution, but rather of reducing the existing pollution. The medical initiative initiated by several medical professionals from the area around the power plant site was joined by more than 500 professional colleagues.
As the level of information about the project and its effects increased, there was a trend in acceptance among the population around the location. This is proven by a telephone vote on July 21, 2007 by the Saarbrücker Zeitung, local edition Saarlouis. Of over 2,400 callers, 42 percent rejected the planned double block, 36 percent were in favor of a smaller new building and only 22 percent voted for the RWE project. At the end of September 2007, Infratest dimap carried out a nationwide survey on the subject of “New Ensdorf power plant” on behalf of the Saarland Broadcasting Corporation. Result: 52 percent rejected a new building, 42 percent supported it, 6 percent did not provide any information. Several communities around the power plant site, including the neighboring district town of Saarlouis , passed resolutions that were negative in their councils. Saarlouis announced that it would take legal action against a possible change in the land use plan of the Ensdorf municipality.
Citizen survey
In order to implement the project in accordance with the licensing procedure, it was imperative to change the existing land use plan (FNP), since parts of the plant were to be built outside the scope of the existing FNP. This mainly concerned a turning point for coal freighters on the Saar with the associated unloading devices. The Ensdorfer municipal council decided with 26 votes in favor and one against to initiate the change of the land use plan (FNP) of the municipality, so that the necessary legal planning requirements are met. However, there was no change to the FNP. The SPD in the local council applied for a public survey in accordance with Section 20 b of the Saarland Municipal Self-Administration Act (KSVG). The council agreed, but in its meeting on October 11, 2007 set a quorum of two thirds of all Ensdorfer eligible to vote. The CDU advocating the project could have rejected the citizens' survey with an absolute majority of 14 votes and decided to change the FNP alone. However, she stated that if the quorum was exceeded and a clear vote against the FNP change, it would adhere to the citizens' decision.
In November 2007 the citizens' survey was carried out. With a voter turnout of 70.19 percent, the quorum hurdle was overcome, and with 70.03 percent of the valid votes, there was a clear majority against the power plant construction. The municipal council and RWE had announced that they would stick to this vote. On December 13, 2007, the Ensdorfer municipal council rejected a change to the zoning plan, which meant the final end for the planned new building. RWE withdrew the permit application submitted on August 24 immediately after the municipal council's decision.
The process attracted nationwide attention. For the first time in Germany, the construction of a coal-fired power plant failed due to a referendum. In terms of its importance for the new coal-fired power plants planned throughout Germany, the process in Ensdorf was compared with the failure of the Wyhl nuclear power plant on the Upper Rhine in the 1980s.
See also
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ Energy and Resource Center Industrial Park (ERZ) , accessed on October 9, 2018.
- ↑ http://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/saarwirtschaft/mektiven/art289659,3852939,1#__ ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Ensdorf power plant will be closed ( Memento of the original from June 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. SR-Online, June 14, 2017
- ↑ Saarstahl and Saarschmiede end their own electricity generation in the Ensdorf power plant - VSE decides to shut down the power plant on January 1st, 2018 . In: Völklingen in transition . June 14, 2017 ( voelklingen-im-wandel.de [accessed June 14, 2017]).
- ↑ The turbines in the Ensdorf power plant are still . In: Saarbrücker Zeitung , December 20, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ↑ RWE Power is planning new power plants in Lingen and Ensdorf. Press release from RWE Power AG, November 23, 2006. Accessed October 15, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.aerztesyndikat-saarland.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=149&Itemid=2
- ↑ Saarbrücker Zeitung : 70 percent against: No power plant in Ensdorf , November 26, 2007
- ↑ Saarbrücker Zeitung : Definitely: No to the power plant
- ↑ Telepolis special 01/2008, p. 26
- ↑ RWE Power withdraws approval application for power plant project in Ensdorf. Press release from RWE Power AG, December 13, 2007. Accessed October 15, 2014.
- ↑ Ensdorf is everywhere! In: press release. Deutsche Umwelthilfe e. V., November 26, 2007, accessed October 28, 2011 .
- ↑ Peter Kleinert: Beginning of a citizens' movement like in Wyhl? (PDF (691 KiB)) Interview with Karl Heinz Winkler on the success against RWE in Ensdorf. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; Retrieved October 28, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
