GE Jenbacher powers Hamburg’s new cogen plant

HanseWerk (owned by E.ON (68%) and local municipalities) has brought on line its fourth high-efficiency CHP plant in Hamburg.

The new facility, at Eidelstedt, is equipped with GE Jenbacher engines and an integrated heat pump, and is capable of an overall cogen efficiency of 95%. It also has considerable operational flexibility and described as “ideally suited for grid stabilisation, which is necessary to even out the fluctuating nature of wind and solar power fed into the grid”, E.ON says. Over the coming months HanseWerk will incorporate the new CHP unit into what it calls its “virtual power plant”, which co-ordinates a large number of CHP units (over 65) in northern Germany and can quickly reduce their output when there is a surplus of power in the grid (eg on windy days), or increase output rapidly (in a matter of minutes) when the wind drops, for example, as well as storing heat for later use.

HanseWerk is a major provider of heat and power in northern Germany, with around 200 CHP units, 1000 heat-only plants, 800 km of heating network, 51 000 km of power lines/cabling and 25 000 km of natural gas pipeline.