Frimmersdorf Power Station


Frimmersdorf Power Station, located in Grevenbroich, is one of the largest lignite-fired power stations in Germany. It has fourteen units with a total output capacity of 2,413 megawatts, of which 277 MW are used by the station itself. The chimneys of the power station are 200 metres high.

History

The first power station in Frimmersdorf, fired with lignite, was established in 1926 and had an output of 10 MW. It was located ca. 1km south west of today's power station on the west bank of the Erft river. In 1936 the power station was acquired by RWE and after extension work the output raised to 26 MW.
After World War II demolitions the power station was back in operation 1946. After further enhancement an output of 90MW was reached in 1951.
In 1954 this was replaced with a much larger plant Frimmersdorf II which contained initially two 100 MW units. Over the next 15 years, this was incrementally upgraded until it supported an additional twelve 150 MW units and two 300 MW units. In 1970 the final configuration of Frimmersdorf II was reached and the power station held the record of the world largest thermal power station.
1988 saw the installation of Flue-gas desulfurization scrubbers, while the two 100 MW units were shut down on 30 June.
Starting in 2005 most of the units have been shut down until 2013. Their workload has mainly been replaced by new 1100MW units in the neighbouring Neurath Power Station. The two remaining 300MW units are planned to be shut down by October 2017. As of January 2018, the units have been taken offline, and kept only as "grid stability emergency reserve". Full decommissioning is planned for October 2021.

Carbon Dioxide Pollution

According to a 2005 WWF report, Frimmersdorf power station is the dirtiest power station in Europe and the third most polluting power station in the industrialised world.