Awirs power station

From Global Energy Monitor

Awirs power station is a retired power station in Quai du Halage, Leige, Belgium. It is also known as Les Awirs.


Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name Location Coordinates (WGS 84)
Awirs power station Quai du Halage, Leige, Belgium 50.5851, 5.4180 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the power station.

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Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):

  • Unit 5: 50.5851, 5.418
  • Unit 4: 50.5851, 5.418


Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name Status Fuel(s) Capacity (MW) Technology Start year Retired year
Unit 4 retired - 125 MW subcritical 1967 -
Unit 5 retired - 300 MW subcritical 1973 -

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name Owner Parent
Unit 4 ENGIE SA ENGIE SA
Unit 5 Electrabel NV/SA ENGIE SA

Unit-level fuel conversion details:


Background

The Awirs power station was built in 1951 by Electrabel as a coal-fired plant, with Units 4 and 5 added later.[1] Units 1, 2, and 3 were shut down in 1998. Unit 4 was converted to a 100% biomass-fueled plant in 2005.[2] Unit 5 was converted to run on natural gas and closed in 2013. The coal-fired plants were closed due to aging equipment, and because the company had reached the end of the period for receiving green certificates.[3]

The biomass plant that Unit 4 became was the largest in Wallonia and powered 160,000 homes in Belgium. The biomass plant was closed in September 2020, with decommissioning work to begin in April 2021 and to end in 2023. At the time of retirement, the plant had 40 employees which will be transferred to other Electrabel locations.[3] Engie, Electrabel's parent company, stated that they were interested in building a new gas-fired power station on the site in the future.[4]


Articles and Resources

References

  1. "Awirs 4 and 5 thermal Power Plant Belgium - GEO". Global Energy Observatory. Retrieved 2021-05-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. Gratton, Georgia (2020-09-03). "Engie closes Belgian Les Awirs biomass plant". Argus. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "ENGIE's Les Awirs biomass plant closes". Bioenergy Insight. September 4, 2020. Retrieved 2021-05-20.
  4. Renews Ltd (2020-08-28). "Engie to close Belgian biomass plant". reNEWS - Renewable Energy News. Retrieved 2021-05-20.

Additional data

To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datasets, and summary data, please visit the Global Bioenergy Power Tracker and the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.