RDK (Karlsruhe) power station

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RDK (Karlsruhe) power station, also known as the Rheinhafen power station, has 1,815 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity (1,462 MW coal-fired and 353 MW gas-fired) in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Location

The undated satellite below shows the power station in Karlsruhe.

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Background

The power station consisted of the following coal- and gas-fired units:

• Units 1 & 2: 64 MW each
• Units 3: 100 MW
• Unit 4S: 353 MW
• Units 5 & 6: 180 MW each
• Unit 7: 550 MW
• Unit 8: 912 MW

The first seven units were commissioned from 1955 to 1985, and unit 8 in 2014. Units 1 to 3 have been shut down since the 1980s; both oil and gas-fired units 5 and 6 are since 1993 in cold reserve, meaning they can start operating again after an interval. Unit 4S is a combined cycle natural gas-fired plant. The coal-fired power plant unit 7 has been used for intermediate load and coal-fired unit 8 for baseload.

Unit 8

In April 2008 Power in Europe listed the project status as being "tendering, proposed" with a notional commissioning date of 2011/2012. It also listed the installed capacity as being in the range of 890-912 megawatts with "400?" in brackets. The project was approved by the ENBW board in December 2006. The newsletter also noted that the company was also "actively investigating" a 400 megawatt combined cycle gas turbine plant on the same site. Both the projects are slated as replacement for nuclear power stations set to be retired.

According to a November 2012 report by Deutsche Umweltshilfe, the project was under construction with expected completion in 2013.

Unit 8 was commissioned in 2014 with a capacity of 910 MW.

Project Details

• Sponsor: EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG
• Parent company: nBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG
• Location: Karlsruhe, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
• Coordinates: 49.013306, 8.305416 (exact)
• Coal Type: Bituminous
• Gross generating capacity (operating): 1815 MW
  • Coal-fired: 1,462 MW
    • Unit 7: 550 MW (start-up 1984) Subcritical
    • Unit 8: 912 MW (start-up 2014) Ultra-supercritical
  • Gas-fired: 353 MW
    • Unit 4S: 353 MW (start-up 1998), combined cycle

Articles and Resources

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• Germany and coal
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