RWE plans a 1,000 MW coal power plant near Cologne (Germany)

RWE submitted a proposal to the Cologne district government to change the regional plan. In doing this, the company wants to secure the option of refurbish its power plants in the Rhine lignite mining area. RWE aims to develop a new power plant unit with an installed electrical capacity of 1,100 MW in the Cologne district (BoAplus project). The €1.5bn plant will have an efficiency of 45%, a level never achieved before in for a lignite power plant. With the commissioning of the new plant, RWE Power should decommission four older 300 MW units in Niederaussem. Authorisations procedures are expected to be finalised by two or three years. BoAplus is being prepared for cogeneration and for the later capture of carbon dioxide emissions using CO₂ scrubbing. An additional co-combustion of biomass is also possible in the plant. A hybrid cooling tower largely prevents the formation of visible steam during the day and thus reduces any burden on residents. A construction period of roughly three to four years can be expected to build this kind of plant, after the provision of definitive approval.