Fifth unit inaugurated at Iffezheim plant, Germany

25 October 2013


The fifth unit at the Iffezheim hydropower plant has been officially inaugurated in Germany.

More than 200 guests celebrated the expansion of country's largest run-of-river power plant in a ceremony attended by Minister of State Silke Krebs and EU Commissioner Günther Oettinger.

Along with EDF and the operating company RKI GmbH, EnBW inaugurated the new machine on 18 October, although the machine had already been commissioned in the summer.

"Hydropower has been a bedrock of renewable energy production at EnBW and its predecessor companies for more than a century. The expansion of the Iffezheim/Rhine hydropower plant marks the building of a bridge which connects this long-standing tradition with the course we have charted into a future with sustainable energy", said Frank Mastiaux, Chief Executive Officer of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG. "By 2020, we intend to have more than trebled our share of renewable energies in our own power generation, which will take it to some 40 percent The collaboration of all those who worked on the planning and construction of this new power plant has made a definitive contribution to bringing us another step closer to our goal."

Silke Krebs, Minister of State of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, added: "With the fifth machine in the Iffezheim run-of-river power plant, the project partners have sent out an important signal in the expansion of renewable energies in Baden-Württemberg and made a huge contribution to climate protection and securing the supply at a high technological level. The project shows how economy and ecology can successfully and profitably go hand in hand.

"The fifth machine, fruit of the cooperation between the EDF Group and EnBW, is a huge technical achievement for flexible and competitive renewable energy, and serves to promote the economy, also from a social and regional standpoint, while taking account of the environment," commented Frédéric Hofmann, EDF's Director of Hydropower Production/East.

The Iffezheim/Rhine hydropower plant is Germany's largest run-of-river power plant today and one of the largest in Europe. Five large Kaplan bulb turbines and a rotor turbine with a peak output totalling 148MW feed renewable energy from hydropower into the grid on both sides of the Rhine.

The installation of the fifth turbine commenced in 2009 and was successfully completed following a four-year construction period, 35 years after the construction of the Rhine power plant on the German-French border. The plant is operated by Rheinkraftwerk Iffezheim GmbH in which EnBW and EDF each hold a 50% stake.

 



Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.