Schwarze Pumpe power station

Schwarze Pumpe power station
Official name Kraftwerk Schwarze Pumpe
Country Germany
Location Schwarze Pumpe district in Spremberg
Coordinates 51°32′10″N 14°21′12″E / 51.53611°N 14.35333°E / 51.53611; 14.35333Coordinates: 51°32′10″N 14°21′12″E / 51.53611°N 14.35333°E / 51.53611; 14.35333
Status Operational
Commission date 1997
Owner(s) Vattenfall Europe
Thermal power station
Primary fuel Coal
Power generation
Units operational 2
Nameplate capacity 1600 MW

Schwarze Pumpe power station (German: Kraftwerk Schwarze Pumpe translated: Black Pump Power Station) is a modern lignite-fired power station in the "Schwarze Pumpe" (Black Pump) district in Spremberg, Germany consisting of 2 × 800 megawatts (MW) units. It came into service in 1997–1998 and was built by Siemens. The power station was sold by Vattenfall to the Czech energy group EPH and its financial partner PPF Investments on 30 September 2016.[1]

The steam generator is 161 metres (528 ft) high and has an observation deck on its top.

Carbon capture and storage pilot plant

Construction started on 26 May 2006 in the Schwarze Pumpe industrial area, on the oxy-fuel combustion process carbon capture and storage pilot plant. With a thermal power of 30 MW, the plant burned coal with a pure oxygen and nitrogen-free exhaust. The idea was that the resulting carbon dioxide would be compressed and liquefied. It would then be put into geologic formations and stored so as not to contribute to global warming. Aim of the plant is not to produce electricity but steam which is then used by nearby industry.

Vattenfall stopped carbon capture R&D at the plant in 2014 because they found "its costs and the energy it requires makes the technology unviable".[2]

The facility was meant to serve as a prototype for larger power plants. Back in 2005 environmentalists criticized the facility. In their opinion a greater impact on the reduction of global warming could have been obtained for the same money through investments in more on renewable energies, and efficient power production and use.[3]

Criticisms

On 13–15 May 2016, 3,500–4,000 environmental activists blocked the open-pit coal mine and the Schwarze Pumpe power station to limit climate change. This protest was known as Ende Gelände 2016.

On 14 May 2016 Vattenvall reported that environmental campaigners tried to force the power plant to shut down by occupying the coal transport railway tracks into the plant. 120 people were arrested. 2,000 climate activists occupied different areas of the nearby mine Welzow-Süd and the rails of the coal transport trains in order to stop the fuel supply to the power plant Schwarze Pumpe and thereby enforce a stop of plant operation.

References

  1. ↑ "Vattenfall completes German lignite business sale" (PDF) (Press release). Stockholm, Sweden: Vattenfall. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-06. Vattenfall has completed the sale of its German lignite business to the Czech energy group EPH and its financial partner PPF Investments.
  2. ↑ "Vattenfall abandons research on CO2 storage". The Local. 7 May 2014.
  3. ↑ Tim Mansel (2005-07-02). "Germany plans C02-free power plant". BBC. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
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