Societies need a reliable supply of increasingly sustainable electricity. That’s precisely what Uniper’s power plants deliver. We have about 22.5 GW of generation capacity, which is roughly equal to the total capacity of the Netherlands.
Megawatts that multitask
Like mentally agile people, our power plants can do several things at once. Alongside generating electricity our thermal power plants make a range of by-products for companies and communities nearby. They also provide services that help grid operators keep the electricity supply stable.
By-products for industry and homes
The by-products of thermal power generation — steam, heat, cooling, deionized water, and compressed air — are inputs for production processes. Getting them directly from us saves nearby industrial enterprises money. And it reduces their carbon footprint, since no additional fuel has to be consumed to make them. Steam from some of our plants is also piped into district heating networks to keep homes warm.
Grid stability services
In addition to balancing out the fluctuations in renewables output, our gas plants perform other useful roles for grid operators. Some can provide grid inertia and reactive power to maintain uniform frequency, while others can reboot the grid after an outage. Renewables are incapable of performing these tasks. So as they account for more of the power mix, our grid stability services will become even more important.
Many of our power plants are highly flexible, enabling them to balance out the fluctuations in renewables output and thus keep the electricity supply reliable. As wind and solar come to dominate the energy system, dispatchable capacity — particularly low- and zero-carbon capacity — will become more and more valuable. Uniper will specialize in providing it. Going forward, we’ll make our gas fleet—which is already impressively fuel efficient—even climate-friendlier by converting plants to run on green hydrogen or biofuels or by capturing and storing their carbon emissions.
Carbon-neutral by 2040
Uniper has about 22.5 GW of generation capacity in Europe. Most is in Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden. We group our power plants into fleets by technology (hydro, nuclear, gas, coal). This enables us to share expertise and best practices across similar assets. We’re rapidly exiting coal and aim for our entire business to be carbon-neutral by 2040.
Passion for improvement
Uniper has more than 125 years of experience in power generation. And a passion for continually improving our plants’ performance. Our aim is to derive as much energy as possible from a unit of fuel. This reduces our climate footprint and costs. The improvement process is ongoing. Each year we invest to modernize the technology in a number of our power plants to enhance their efficiency, flexibility, and climate performance.
The table below shows our installed generating capacity by energy source and country.
Power generation capacity (accounting approach)
Uniper Group: Consolidated Generation Capacity as of December 31, 2022
in GW |
Gas |
Coal |
Hydro |
Nuclear |
Oil |
Total (country specific) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Germany |
3,3 |
3,2 |
2,0 |
0,0 |
1,4 |
9,9 |
United Kingdom |
4,2 |
2,0 |
0,0 |
0,0 |
0,2 |
6,4 |
Sweden |
0,0 |
0,0 |
1,6 |
1,4 |
1,2 |
4,2 |
Netherlands |
0,5 |
1,1 |
0,0 |
0,0 |
0,0 |
1,6 |
Hungary |
0,4 |
0,0 |
0,0 |
0,0 |
0,0 |
0,4 |
Total (asset specific) |
8,4 |
6,3 |
3,6 |
1,4 |
2,8 |
22,5 |