Fossil fuel
For EnBW, the energy sources coal, gas and oil are an essential component of a reliable energy supply. In view of the rapid expansion of renewable energies, flexible coal-fired and gas-fired power plants play a central role in ensuring reliable performance in times of low regenerative supplies.
Our conventional power plants
We operate conventional power plants in Altbach/Deizisau, Heilbronn, Walheim, Marbach, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart-Münster and Stuttgart-Gaisburg. We are also active outside Baden-Württemberg in Lippendorf, Rostock, Mannheim, Düsseldorf and abroad via shareholdings and purchase agreements. Below you will find detailed information on our power plants and power plant shareholdings.
Altbach/Deizisau combined heat and power plant
Important economic factor in the region
The Altbach/Deizisau combined heat and power plant is an important economic factor for a reliable, economical and environmentally friendly energy supply. At this location, EnBW operates several plants with a total electrical output of around 1,200 MW.
The two co-generation units are operated with coal and simultaneously produce electricity and district heating in combined heat and power mode. Combined heat and power plant 2, which was commissioned in 1997, is one of the most modern coal-fired power plants in Europe. As a composite unit, it consists of a steam and gas turbine process – a type of power plant that has been realised in this way for the first time. A secured district heating output of 280 MW each can be extracted from combined heat and power plants 1 and 2. The site also has a gas–oil combination unit and three gas turbines.
Key data
Year of foundation:
1899
Blocks:
- 2 coal blocks
(1 coal, 1 combination block) - 3 gas turbine plants
- 1 gas-oil combination block in cold reserve
Gross electrical power:
1,215 MW
District heating output can be decoupled:
280 MW
Heilbronn thermal power plant
The largest hard coal-fired unit in the EnBW power plant park
The Heilbronn thermal power plant is located in an industrial and commercial area on the outskirts of the city directly on the Neckar. With an electrical output of 1,000 MW and an extractable thermal output of 320 MW, it is one of EnBW’s largest coal-fired power plants.
Of the original seven blocks, three are still in operation. Block 7 is the largest hard coal-fired unit in EnBW’s conventional power plant park. In 2009, the plant was technically optimised by extensive modernization measures and prepared for the requirements of the coming decades. In addition to the district heating supply, Block 7 is also available for the environmentally friendly and resource-saving co-incineration of sewage sludge.
Further information can be found in the EnBW press release (only in German).
As smaller locations, the power plants in Marbach and Walheim are assigned to the Heilbronn site.
Get detailed information about the Fuel Switch Heilbronn project.
Key data
Year of foundation:
1923
Blocks:
- 3 coal blocks
- 3 auxiliary steam generators
Gross electrical power:
1,010 MW
District heating output can be decoupled:
320 MW
Walheim power plant
Back-up reserves for demand peaks
The Walheim power plant was built between 1962 and 1967 by Neckarwerke Elektrizitätsversorgungs AG. It has two coal-fired units. Block 1 was connected to the grid in September 1964, and Block 2 was connected in August 1967. In the winter of 1981/1982, a gas turbine fired with light heating oil was put into operation at the Walheim power plant.
Because it can be started up within a few minutes and feed electricity into the grid, it is used when demand peaks occur and thus serves as a reserve. From 1987 to 1989, the two coal-fired units were retrofitted at great expense in terms of environmental technology. Plants were also installed for desulphurisation and nitrogen oxide reduction of the flue gases. The nitrogen oxide reduction system for a melting chamber boiler with ash recirculation broke new technical ground. In 1990, the gas turbine was retrofitted for low nitrogen oxide operation. Block 1 was preserved in April 2000. As part of reactivations in its power plant park, EnBW put the plant back into operation in 2005.
Marbach power plant
Aircraft engines for power generation
Of the original three units, the Marbach 2 and 3 power plant units with a total capacity of 413 MW are still in operation today. They serve as back-up reserves. This means that they must always be ready for operation. Marbach 2 is a gas turbine plant in which steel engines from Rolls Royce drive the power turbines.
Today, however, this plant only serves to generate peak load and as a minute reserve. Marbach 3 is an oil-fired gas and steam turbine plant (combination block).
Rheinhafen steam power plant in Karlsruhe (RDK)
Energy for the Karlsruhe Economic Region
For half a century, electricity and district heating for the Karlsruhe region have been produced in an economical and environmentally friendly manner in the Rheinhafen of Karlsruhe using state-of-the-art technology: In 2014, for example, we commissioned a new coal-fired unit at our power plant site.
Three power plant units are used in the Rheinhafen steam power plant in Karlsruhe (RDK): In addition to electricity (834 MW), EnBW also generates district heating for the city of Karlsruhe in the coal-fired unit RDK 8 in market operation using combined heat and power generation. Block 8 was commissioned in 2014 and, with a net efficiency of over 46 per cent, is one of the most efficient and therefore most environmentally friendly coal-fired power plants in the world. The maximum district heating output is 220 MW.
Blocks RDK 7 and RDK 4 are in cold reserve (i.e. they can resume operation after a lead time) and are only utilised at the request of TransnetBW to ensure grid stability. Block 7 (517 MW) has been in cold reserve since 27 May 2024 and has been designated by the Federal Network Agency as system-relevant until 31 March 2031. The RDK 4 combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant has been in cold reserve as a system-relevant power plant since 2017.
Key data
Year of foundation:
1955, commissioning of Block 8: 2014
Blocks:
- 3 decommissioned blocks
- 2 oil- and gas-fired blocks in cold reserve (175 MW each)
- 1 combination block, CCGT repowering (353 MW)
- 1 hard coal block (550 MW electrical output, 220 MW decouplable district heating output)
- 1 hard coal block, commissioning 2014 (912 MW electrical output, 220 MW district heating output)
Gross electrical power:
1,815 MW
District heating output can be decoupled:
440 MW
RDK 8 – state-of-the-art conventional power generation
In the longer term, conventional power plants will also be indispensable for the success of the energy revolution. Since 2014, Block 8 at the Rheinhafen of Karlsruhe has been a flexibly deployable system for supplying electricity and heat. It closes the gaps caused by the volatility of wind and sun. RDK 8 is able to supply a city with 500,000 inhabitants – including the industrial and service enterprises located there.
- The innovative technology of the new block leads to a significant increase in efficiency to over 46%.
- Specific CO2 emissions will be reduced by around 30% compared with the current global average. (RDK 8: 740 g CO2/kWh compared to the global average of 1,110 g/kWh; as of October 2014).
- In addition, for RDK 8 the annual mean values for dust and nitrogen oxides and sulphur oxides relevant for the emission are below the limit values of the 13th Federal Emission Control Ordinance.
Key data
Year of foundation:
1994
Blocks:
1 coal block
Gross electrical power:
553 MW
District heating output can be decoupled:
150 MW
Stuttgart-Münster thermal power plant
Valuable energy from waste and coal
The Stuttgart-Münster thermal power plant is a special feature of the EnBW power plant park: The focus of the plant is not on electricity generation, but rather on thermal waste treatment and district heating generation.
To improve fuel utilisation, electricity and district heating are generated simultaneously in Stuttgart-Münster according to the principle of combined heat and power generation. The CHP plant consists of a coal-fired power plant with three coal boilers, a waste incineration plant with three waste boilers, two steam turbines, and a gas turbine plant. The Stuttgart-Münster site has a total electrical output of 164 MW and a total thermal output of 450 MW. The treatment capacity of the waste-to-energy plant amounts to 420,000 tonnes per year (reference calorific value 11,000 kJ/kg). EnBW thus makes an important contribution to reliable, environmentally friendly, and economical residual waste disposal in Baden-Württemberg.
Key data
Year of foundation:
1908
Blocks:
- 1 coal block with 3 coal boilers and 3 waste boilers
- 1 gas turbine plant
Gross electrical power:
184 MW
District heating output can be decoupled:
447 MW
Stuttgart-Gaisburg thermal power plant
Full power in minutes
The power plant complex consists of two power plant units. The plant is used exclusively for district heating. It operates EnBW’s only fluidized bed boiler. With this type of boiler, a mixture of ash, coal, and lime in the combustion chamber is put into a suspended state by air supply and burnt. The special feature of this technology is the direct addition of lime, which directly binds the pollutants produced in the combustion chamber. This allows the prescribed emission limits to be met without the need for expensive flue gas cleaning systems.
We plan to comprehensively modernise the site.
Our holdings
The company’s own power plant park – with its main locations on the Rhine and Neckar – is supplemented by procurement agreements and shareholdings in Lippendorf, Rostock, Mannheim and Düsseldorf.
Lippendorf power plant
The Lippendorf power plant is located about 15 km south of Leipzig. The two lignite blocks, S and R, went into operation in 1999. Block R is owned by Vattenfall Europe Generation AG, the operator of the power plant; Block S is owned by EnBW. The power plant also acts as a district heating supplier for the city of Leipzig. The two blocks each have a gross capacity of 920 MW. At the time of their commissioning, these were considered to be the world's largest and most efficient lignite-fired power plant blocks. The plant has a net efficiency of around 42%, and the extraction of district heating achieves an utilisation rate of 46%. Sewage sludge has been co-incinerated in Lippendorf since 2004.
Key data
Year of foundation:
1999
Blocks:
2 coal blocks
Gross electrical power:
1,840 MW
Rostock power plant
The Rostock power plant in the Rostock Überseehafen was commissioned in September 1994. It has a gross electrical output of 553 MW and supplies 150 MWth for the Rostock district heating network. It currently produces more than half of the electrical energy generated in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and covers about one third of the electricity requirements in the entire federal state as well as 20 percent of the district heating requirements of the city of Rostock. The hard coal-fired power plant achieves an efficiency of more than 43%. With full use of heat extraction, the efficiency can be increased to 62%. With effect from 1st January 2010, EnBW acquired 100 percent of the company for its stake in Kraftwerk Rostock mbH. The company holds a 50.4% stake in the Rostock power plant. Another shareholder is RheinEnergie AG.
Key data
Year of foundation:
1994
Blocks:
1 coal block
Gross electrical power:
553 MW
District heating output can be decoupled:
150 MW
Großkraftwerk Mannheim
Großkraftwerk Mannheim AG (GKM) operates one of the most efficient coal-fired power plants in Europe. The location directly on the Rhine offers ideal framework conditions for consumption-oriented generation and feed-in. GKM is a joint power plant owned by RWE Power AG (40%), EnBW (32%), and MVV RHE GmbH (28%). The Mannheim power plant was founded in 1921 by the Pfalzwerke of the city of Mannheim, the Badische Landeselektrizitätsversorgung (later Badenwerk, today EnBW) and Neckar AG. The first boilers went into operation in 1923. GKM has been generating electricity and district heating for Mannheim and the Rhine/Neckar metropolitan region for around 90 years. The plant consists of hard coal-fired units 6, 7, 8, and 9, which together generate a gross output of 2,146 MW and generate around 1,500 MW of district heat. A special feature in Mannheim: From the net capacity, 310 MW are derived for the supply of a power line to Deutsche Bahn.
Key data
Year of foundation:
1921
Blocks:
5 coal blocks
Gross electrical power:
1,675 MW
District heating output can be decoupled:
1,000 MW
Fernwärme Ulm GmbH
EnBW and Stadtwerke Ulm/Neu-Ulm GmbH (SWU) each hold 50 % of Fernwärme Ulm GmbH (FUG). In addition to a state-of-the-art biomass co-generation plant commissioned in 2004, FUG operates the Magirusstrasse cogeneration plant and the Fort Albeck and Daimlerstrasse heating plants. In 2011 and 2012, FUG invested in another biomass cogeneration plant. Regular operation commenced in autumn of 2012. In order to supply its customers with environmentally friendly district heating, it maintains a pipeline network of around 160 km and thus covers approx. 45% of the space heating requirements in Ulm. In addition, the Donautal Thermal Waste Utilisation Association has commissioned FUG to manage the waste-to-energy plant. Through various investment programmes and extensive retrofitting measures at the existing power plants, FUG is making an important contribution to reducing pollution in Ulm.