German energy company Uniper has announced a plan to restart the Heyden 4 hard-coal-fired power plant in Petershagen near Minden, Germany.
To secure supply for Germany in the coming winter months, the 875MW unit will begin production on 29 August 2022 and will continue operating until 30 April 2023.
Uniper ceased commercial plant operations in 2020 and since 2021 the plant has acted as a reserve without producing electricity for the market.
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The plant could operate for another year if legislative approval is granted.
Operation of Heyden 4 could be restricted due to the limited rail transportation capacity of hard coal to the site. These restrictions might be lifted once additional transportation capacity becomes available.
According to Uniper, a prerequisite for use is the activation of at least the alert level in the federal government’s gas emergency plan. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck implemented the “early warning phase” the first phase of the gas emergency plan in March this year.
Uniper had planned to shut the power plant on 8 July 2021, however, in June 2021 the German regulator certified the power plant to be “systemically relevant” and necessary for the region’s secure supply.
Uniper’s announcement comes as energy major Gazprom announced the possibility of further gas supply cuts at month end, potentially causing supply disruptions to Germany.
