Uniper brings Heyden 4 hard coal-fired power plant back onto the market
- Temporary deployment until 30.04.2023 to secure electricity supply in Germany
- The 875-megawatt unit has been system-relevant since June 2021 and most recently served as a reserve power plant
Uniper's Heyden 4 hard-coal-fired power plant in Petershagen near Minden will again produce electricity for the market from 29 August 2022 and probably until 30 April 2023. The deployment of the 875-megawatt unit is part of the "Ersatzkraftwerkebereithaltungsgesetz", which serves to secure Germany's energy supply in the coming winters. Should the deadlines of this law be extended, Heyden 4 could remain on the market for another year.
The envisaged operation of Heyden 4 will be restricted due to limitations on the rail transportation capacity of hard coal to the site, which might get lifted once additional transportation capacity becomes available.
Uniper can revoke the decision to return to the market at any time with four weeks' notice. A prerequisite for use is also the activation of at least the alert level in the federal government's gas emergency plan, which is currently the case. Since mid-2021, Heyden 4 has supported the electricity system as a reserve power plant, but has not produced any electricity for the market. At the end of 2020, Uniper had ended commercial operation of the power plant as part of its decarbonisation plan, which envisages CO2 neutrality in European electricity generation by 2035. On 1 June 2021, the German regulator Bundesnetzagentur had certified the power plant to be "systemically relevant" and thus necessary for the secure supply of the region. Otherwise, Uniper would have shut down the power plant permanently on 8 July 2021.
About Uniper
Uniper is a leading international energy company, has around 11,500 employees, and operates in more than 40 countries. The company plans for its power generation business in Europe to be carbon-neutral by 2035. Uniper’s roughly 33 GW of installed generation capacity make it one of the world‘s largest electricity producers. The company's core activities include power generation in Europe and Russia as well as global energy trading and a broad gas portfolio, which makes Uniper one of Europe’s leading gas companies. In addition, Uniper is a reliable partner for communities, municipal utilities, and industrial enterprises for planning and implementing innovative, lower-carbon solutions on their decarbonization journey. Uniper is a hydrogen pioneer, is active worldwide along the entire hydrogen value chain, and is conducting projects to make hydrogen a mainstay of the energy supply.
The company is based in Düsseldorf. Together with its main shareholder Fortum, Uniper is also Europe’s third-largest producer of zero-carbon energy.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Uniper SE Management and other information currently available to Uniper. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. Uniper SE does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to modify them to conform with future events or developments.
