German utility EnBW has selected GE Vernova’s gas power business to supply H-Class natural gas-fired combined cycle power generation equipment for two of its combined heat and power (CHP) plants near Stuttgart, Germany.
This contract covers building the two plants, in Heilbronn and Altbach/Deizisau, and providing software solutions, maintenance and services for ten years.
The CHPs will replace the current coal-fired power facilities and will be able to run on a fuel mix of up to 100% hydrogen in the 2030s.
GE Vernova will lead a consortium with engineering, procurement and construction companies Bonatti and SENER for the projects.
The power plants are expected to be operational by the end of 2026 and will generate 1.34GW of electricity, enough to meet the needs of 2.4 million German households.
They will also supply steam for district heating for households, businesses and industry across the larger Stuttgart area.
By moving from coal to natural gas, carbon emissions can be reduced by up to 60%. When GE Vernova’s 9HA.01 gas turbines are used, emissions of other pollutants such as mercury, NOx, SOx and particulate matter can also be reduced.
Each of the plants will feature a GE 9HA.01 gas turbine, an STF-D650 steam turbine, a W88 generator, a triple pressure with reheat heat recovery steam generator and GE Vernova's integrated Mark VIe distributed control system software solution.
This combination is expected to improve asset reliability and increase availability while reducing operating and maintenance costs.
EnBW generation portfolio management senior vice-president Michael Class stated: “Today we celebrated the start of the works with the local authorities and our partners. These power plants will help to increase power supply security in Germany while continuing to phase out coal, and expand a more reliable deployment of renewable energy resources in our country as we will be able to dispatch power quickly in response to grid fluctuations.
“In addition, the two power plants are designed to operate on up to 100% hydrogen by volume, in line with the national goal to deploy renewables and green hydrogen at large scale, but foremost in line with EnBW’s sustainability goals to be carbon-neutral by 2035. Others talk about hydrogen-ready power plants – we already started to build them. That makes the difference!”
GE Vernova Gas Power business senior executive sales leader Brice Raisin stated: “In a region with an increasing power demand due to planned coal-fired retirements, we are proud to work with EnBW, Bonatti and Sener to support a lower-carbon future in Germany.
“Heilbronn and Altbach/Deizisau CHPs will be the first new GE Vernova’s H-Class combined heat and power plants to be installed in Germany, and they are expected to be among the most efficient and flexible, once they begin operation. We are committed to providing our advanced gas turbine technology to accelerate coal phase-out and increase the share of renewables as we work towards zero-carbon, gas-based power generation with hydrogen.”
