Two more German unabated coal plant projects abandoned

The Dörpen project in Germany would have had an installed capacity of 800 MW and cost around €1 billion to build. The Ingelheimer Aue project at Mainz would have had a capacity of 750-800 MW with a notional commissioning date of 2012 and construction cost of €1 billion.

German utility company Energie Baden-Württemberg AG (EnBW AG) issued a formal statement on December 9th in Dörpen announcing that the plant would not be built – thus confirming the hopes of many anti-coal campaigners in the region and Germany at large.

In the meantime, the German city of Mainz has followed suit by announcing a halt to the Ingelheimer Aue project. This was achieved through an agreement amongst the coalition parties SDP, Green and FDP.

Although the official explanation was that the Ingelheimer Aue plant was not cost-effective, it is believed that the new political scenario following the municipal elections in Mainz in June 2009 – during which SDP was allegedly punished for being pro-coal – have influenced SDP’s position regarding the future of the project. 

“The termination of both projects shows there is no future for coal unless its CO₂ emissions are captured and permantly stored. It is time for German utilities to show that CCS is more than power point presentations and glossy slides,” says Eivind Hoff from Bellona Europa.