Niederaussem Power Station

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Niederaussem Power Station is of the RWE power with brown coal operated baseload power station in the RWE company in Bergheim Niederaussem/Rhein Erft circle. It consists of nine blocks, which were built between 1963 and 2003. It has a total output of 3.864 MW gross and 3,627 MW net.

[edit] History

In the autumn 1960 the construction work for the blocks A and B (150 MW) of the today's power station Niederaussem between Niederaussem and Auenheim, which as work Fortuna IV the earlier power stations Fortuna, began, which sat on the coal replace should. The location was selected because of the possibility of an extension. The supply of brown coal is ensured over own lines (north south course (Garzweiler)). Before the blocks A and B 1963 produced the first river, the construction work for the first 300 megawatt power station block location Niederaussem began. The block went in the summer 1965 under large interest of the public as most modern its kind to the net. Between 1968 and 1971 three further power plants with improved technology developed. With the building of the two 600 MW plants a large jump succeeded forward. 1974 went these plants to the net. Altogether at the location Niederaussem with an output were produced at that time of 2,700 megawatts river. In the middle of the 90's the achievement could be again increased by improvement measures. In order to reach the limit values of the new environmental protection editions, 1986 began the work for a flue gas desulphurating plant. Power station Niederaussem 2004Seit 1988 the flue gases of the power station are desulphurised. The flue gases are led in scrubbers and cleaned by the far away visible red pipes by a lime water mixture. Only the cleaned and cooled down exhaust gases are then warmed up on 75 degrees again and led by the chimneys to air. During the flue gas purification gypsum from the lime water mixture, which is processed beside the power station in Auenheim by the company Pro mineral, develops. With the building of the block brown coal power station with optimized equipment technology (BoA) a new chapter at the power station Niederaussem began. Between 1997 and 2002 the most modern brown coal power station block of the world with a gross achievement of 1,012 megawatts (950 MW net) developed and a by far higher efficiency (43 %) than the other plants (partly only 31 %). euro invested RWE into the building 1.2 billion. Beside the new power station block the largest cooling tower of the world (200 meters) already developed. By the development the location Niederaussem became one of the largest and most modern coal-fired power stations of the world. The official opening of the new block took place in the summer 2002. In the presence of the North-Rhine/Westphalia Prime Minister at that time Wolfgang Clement and the Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder the new power station went to the net. Since 21 July 2006 RWE power for over 40 millions EUR builds a fluidized bed drying unit with waste heat technology (WTA) as pilot project for the drying process of the raw brown coal. In addition the free waste heat of the power station is used. One hopes that in the next decades efficiencies can be achieved in such a way from 48 to 50 % during the brown coal generation of electricity. The largest and most modern power station was taken up as exemplary to the road of the energy. An incident in the power station Niederaussem occurred on 9 June 2006. At 1:15 o'clock was caught the Bekohlungsanlage of the block H fire in revision. The fire estimated on two further power station blocks. Later the flames seized nearly the entire Bekohlung of the "old power station", and a large, black smoke cloud ascended, which drew many kilometers of direction northwest. The works fire brigade could not delete the fire and released large alarm. About 300 rescue forces were out whole North Rhine-Westphalia in the use. The damage to property went into the two digit million-range. Still in the late evening of the subsequent daily the fire was not completely deleted. Propagation of flames could be prevented by the only recently renewed fire precaution measures on other fire compartments, so that except to the Bekohlung no damage developed.

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