German energy company Iqony is planning to construct hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants at three of its existing sites in the country, Reuters has reported.

The move is part of the company's strategy to bid for a portion of the German Government's upcoming tender for 10GW of new capacity.

Reuters quoted the company’s spokesperson as saying: “We are preparing to build new hydrogen-ready gas plants at Bergkamen, Bexbach and Quierschied-Weiher.

“Put together, the plants would have a capacity of 2.5GW.”

The locations of the proposed gas-fired plants were first reported by Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

Iqony's commitment to these plants is contingent upon the specific conditions outlined in the government's strategy, which are expected to be clarified in the tenders scheduled for 2024.

The government has been encouraged by interested parties to provide more details regarding the operation of a capacity mechanism scheduled to take effect in 2028.

As renewable power takes precedence, the process will compensate for capacity that will only operate part-time.

Power generating company Uniper recently disclosed its potential development of 1–2GW of capacity, subject to favourable conditions.

These developments are part of a broader effort by Berlin to accelerate the phase-out of domestic brown coal plants before the 2038 deadline and to facilitate the closure of hard-coal power plants by 2030.

In addition to the gas-fired plants, Iqony is also planning to construct electrolysis plants for hydrogen production at Duisburg-Walsum and Voelklingen-Fenne, and large power batteries at Duisburg-Walsum and Bexbach.

These projects are part of the company's strategy to diversify into renewable energies and technologies.

Iqony, which was separated from coal-fired power producer Steag in a sales process in August 2023, is now owned by Spanish investor Asterion.

The transaction, involving the consortium Kommunale Beteiligungsgesellschaft, valued the business at $2.8bn (€2.6bn).

Steag was divided into two divisions: Steag Power, which operates hard-coal-fired power plants, and Iqony, which focuses on renewable energies including solar, wind and geothermal, along with hydrogen and storage solutions, engineering services and gas-fired power plants.