German energy company RWE has announced plans to construct a hydrogen-ready combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant at Werne in the southern Münsterland region of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

After Weisweiler in the Rhenish mining area, the company plans to build a CCGT facility at its Gersteinwerk power plant in Werne.

The proposed facility will have an output of 800MW.

This forms part of RWE’s plans to construct hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants at its power plant sites in the country for a successful coal phase-out by 2030.

RWE has selected a consortium comprising Ansaldo Energia from Italy and Tecnicas Reunidas from Spain to plan the project after intensive technical consultations.

The consortium's contract with RWE includes the initial approval planning for the plant.

Work on the planning approval process, a critical step for the project's advancement, has already commenced.

The plant is projected to begin electricity generation by 2030, according to RWE's current planning.

At the time of commissioning, the plant is expected to operate with a fuel mix containing at least 50% hydrogen, with plans to transition to 100% hydrogen.

RWE Generation CEO Nikolaus Valerius stated: “With the approval planning for a hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plant at the Gersteinwerk, we are taking proactive measures to keep the chance of completion by 2030 open.

“With the construction of the new power plant, we are ready to contribute to green security of supply and thus secure the coal phase-out by 2030. This requires policymakers to quickly make some key decisions.

“We can only make a final investment decision once the connection of the site to a hydrogen network has been secured and the framework conditions allow for a commercially viable operation of the power plants.”

The German government's forthcoming power plant strategy will establish a regulatory framework for tendering hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants, and RWE intends to bid on these tenders.

The Gerstein plant's location in Werne is anticipated to be near a future hydrogen transport pipeline.

In February 2024, it was reported that the German government was aiming to issue tenders for an initial 10GW of new power capacity, which will eventually convert to run solely on hydrogen.