21.10.2022 Montel
(Montel) German utility Steag aims to provide 2.5 GW of additional hard coal-fired generation capacity by the end of October to bolster German energy security during the winter months, it said on Friday.
The company will return to market on 28 October its Bexbach (726 MW) unit followed by Weiher (656 MW) on 31 October. The plants in Germany’s southwest Saarland were in a reserve that provides grid stability.
Steag will also retain in the market its units Bergkamen (717 MW) in the Ruhr and the MKV (179 MW) and HKV (211) units in Voelklingen-Fenne that were scheduled to retire at the end of the month.
The company expects to keep the units in the market until Spring 2024, though nothing stood in the way of longer use, if necessary, it said in a statement.
Sufficient fuel supply for commercial operation had been secured via rail, despite logistical constraints, Steag said.
Germany is expected to secure up to 7 GW from hard coal and lignite-fired power plants this winter, according to analysts, in addition to allowing its last three nuclear power plants to run through to mid-April instead of closing them this year.
Europe’s biggest gas importer has struggled amid dwindling gas supplies from Russia as tensions rise over Moscow’s war on Ukraine.