^ Laying the foundation stone for the new power plant: Dr. Jörg Harren , site manager Marl Chemical Park (Evonik), Werner Arndt, Mayor of the City Marl, Dr. Rainer Fretzen, Member of the Executive Board Evonik Operations GmbH, President Technology & Infrastructure, Dr. Jochen Eickholt, designated board member Siemens Energy AG, Thomas Wessel, Chief Human Resources Officer and Industrial Relations Director of Evonik, and Heiko Mennerich, Head of Energy & Utilities Business Line.
Article by Lucien Joppen
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The new power plant will replace an existing reserve gas-fired power plant on-site, and, in so doing, complements another, new power plant that Evonik has recently begun building in Marl/Essen. This plant will replace a coal-fired plant that will be decommissioned.
Evonik is thus clearing the way for ending coal-fired generation of electricity and gas throughout the company. The company states that the combined-cycle gas and steam turbine power plant guarantees long-term, climate-friendlier and sustainable energy. The second power plant will conclude Evonik’s overhaul of the energy infrastructure at its largest site worldwide, in Marl/Essen.
“We intend to cut our absolute greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2025; that’s Evonik’s key climate goal. The new construction project in this agreement is another important step in that direction,” says Thomas Wessel, the member of the Evonik Executive Board responsible for sustainability issues.
Flexibility
The new power plant structure has also been designed to optimize steam supply for the site. If the public grid would go down or experience disruptions, the plants can also operate in island mode for the entire industrial park.
The power plants’ highly flexible load management can also play a role in balancing input variability from a renewable energy source, which is an absolute must for Germany’s energy transition. “Evonik produces sustainable and efficiency-increasing products. That is how we make a significant contribution to reducing CO2-emissions. Overhauling and retrofitting our energy infrastructure represents another way in which we are helping lower the amount of these emissions,” says Rainer Fretzen, chair of the management board of Evonik Technology & Infrastructure. The site’s integrated steam network will continue to provide district heating to some 2,000 Marl homes.
Milestone
“This plant is another milestone on the road to energy transition supported by our state-of-the-art power plant technologies. Siemens Energy supports the emission goals of our long-term partner Evonik, and this project will build upon our trusted collaboration,” says Jochen Eickholt, Member of the Executive Board of Siemens Energy. Siemens Energy serves as a general service provider for the project and is responsible-with its internal partner Siemens Financial Services-for the realization of the facilities.
The new plant is expected to come on steam in 2022. At a total capacity utilization rate of over 90 per cent, the two new plants will generate up to 270 megawatts of electricity (enough to power roughly 750,000 households) and up to 660 metric tons of steam per hour. All of the power plants at the Marl Chemical Park will be operated from a central control room as an integrated network in future.
