The culmination of a five-year project for German utility Stadtwerke Kiel, the gas-fired facility is now operational and replaces its 323-MW coal-fired power station. The new CHP plant is powered by 20 INNIO Jenbacher J920 FleXtra gas engines.

“With Germany’s plans to shutter all coal plants and rely primarily on renewable energy, our Jenbacher J920 gas engines will help balance the Kiel grid,” commented Carlos Lange, president and CEO of INNIO. “As renewable energy usage will continue to grow across Germany, INNIO will continue to make significant investments in research and development and will further expand its technological leadership in power generation based on regenerative gases-in specific, hydrogen and hydrogen carrier gases-to help build out 100 percent carbon neutral and carbon free power plants.”

During the successful completion of a 20-day trial run of the power plant, the 20 Jenbacher gas engines exceeded 92 percent overall efficiency, according to the company. The new plant emits 70 percent less carbon dioxide than the coal-fired facility which was decommissioned in March 2019.

The Stantwerke Kiel CHP plant products both electricity for the grid and heat for a district network operated by the utility.

INNIO and KAM engineered and implemented the coastal power plant. While INNIO provided the gas engines and engineering expertise, KAM operated as the general contractor responsible for engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning the turnkey power plant, including the auxiliary buildings and integrating the heat storage and electrode boiler. The team arranged the power plant in four units of five blocks each, with the advantage of being operable in slices.

“This construction was the largest investment in the history of Stadtwerke Kiel. It challenged us all and required a lot of strength, time and energy. Now the energy supply of the future is a reality in Kiel, and we look with a lot of pride at our coastal power plant,” says Frank Meier, CEO of Stadtwerke Kiel AG.

The plant supplies over 73,000 households and facilities in Kiel with district heating. Additionally, the electric power generated feeds into Kiel’s 110-kV power grid, which supplies electricity both to households in the state capital and some of the surrounding municipalities. Excess energy is passed on to the upstream power grid.

The Jenbacher J920 FleXtra gas engines can reach full capacity in five minutes, according to the company. The Jenbacher brand has been part of the on-site power landscape for more than eight decades.

INNIO was created in 2018 when GE decided to sell its Distributed Power business to Advent International.