The hard coal-fired Heiden power station in Pietershagen was finally shut down on Monday. With a production capacity of 875 MW, Unit 4 is one of the most powerful power plants in Germany, as announced by its operating company Uniper. The energy company wants to continue using the site. Among other things, a battery storage facility is scheduled to become operational there in 2025. Electricity has been generated at the site since 1951.
Uniper had already taken the decision to close the unit, which was operated in 1987, at the end of 2020. In the summer of 2022, it was already part of the so-called grid reserve when it returned to the market due to the natural gas crisis. The power plant has been placed on reserve again since April 2024.
Uniper: The site needs to be developed further
Uniper employs 80 people on site. “A new chapter has now begun for us and we are focusing on decommissioning and continuing to develop the site,” explained the power station’s director, Uwe Knorr, according to the statement.
The company, which was nationalized in the wake of the energy crisis, wants to be completely CO2 neutral by 2040. By 2030, Uniper wants to use more than 80 percent of its installed power plant output to produce CO2-free electricity.
