E.ON has reached an agreement with network regulator Bundesnetzagentur and power grid operator TenneT on its Irsching gas fired power plant in Bavaria (Germany). E.ON will keep the units 4 and 5, two modern CCGT units, open over the next three years, to ensure the stability of the power grid in the region and will be paid based on Irsching's contribution to the grid. The group operates the plants and is the full owner of the 530 MW Irsching-4 CCGT unit. In February 2013, the utility and its partners (Mainova of Frankfurt with 15.6%, N-Ergie with 25.2%, and HSE with 9%) had announced that they were considering closing the fifth unit of the plant, a 845 MW CCGT power plant that was commissioned in 2010, due to low utilisation rates; the unit ran at less than 2,000 hours during 2012 while at least 4,000 hours are needed. Moreover, high gas buying-in prices were coupled to low wholesale power prices, degrading the profitability of the plants.
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