From Berlin to Berlin

In 2009, a climate protection agreement was signed between Vattenfall Wärme AG and the state of Berlin with the aim of halving CO₂ emissions by 2020. An essential building block is the new natural-gas-fired CHP plant in Berlin-Marzahn and, its heart, an SGT5-2000E gas turbine, which was manufactured in Berlin-Moabit.
A cornerstone for climate-neutral energy supply in Berlin

One of the most efficient combined heat and power plants in Europe

In October 2017, the foundation stone was laid for the construction of the combined heat and power plant on the “Allee der Kosmonauten” in Berlin. The modern combined cycle plant will ensure decades of climate-friendly and reliable supply of district heating and electricity for East Berlin.

Berlin is the first German federal state to complete the phase-out of brown coal and use only low-CO₂ energy sources for all new construction projects. Starting in 2020, the new plant in Berlin-Marzahn will supply environmentally friendly district heating and electricity from combined heat and power (CHP) for around 150,000 residential units. In conjunction with the likewise gas-fired plant in Klingenberg, it will form the backbone of the district heating supply in the eastern part of Berlin with a total of 450,000 households.

Berlin-Marzahn
Magazine article

Berlin’s new combined heat and power plant

When a city plans to reduce its CO2-emissions, it has to target energy production. Berlin’s new combined heat and power plant – with great fuel efficiency, a capability to switch quickly between full and partial loads, and a potential use of hydrogen – makes such an important step towards a decarbonized future.

Press release

Siemens supports Berlin with climate-friendly energy supply

Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG officially commissioned the Berlin-Marzahn combined heat and power (CHP) plant, which was built by Siemens Gas and Power as general contractor. 

A major challenge

Environmentally friendly, flexible and committed to the highest standards of supply

We have a flexible system here that can quickly change its output and fully meet the demand of our district heating users.
Harald Flügel, Area Manager Generation Gas+, Vattenfall Wärme Berlin AG

The tender was in 2014, the ground-breaking ceremony a good three years later. In 2020, the new CHP plant in Marzahn is scheduled to go into commercial operation. Division Manager Generation Gas + Harald Flügel has given us all the figures, data and facts about this project for the district heating supply.

 

 

Mr. Flügel, we are here on the construction site for the new CHP plant in Marzahn. What exactly is being constructed here and what are your goals?

The new combined cycle plant based on gas is being built here in Marzahn and it represents a further step in implementation of the climate protection agreement that we signed with the city of Berlin in 2009 to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020. With the coal phase-out as we approach 2030 and fossil-free generation as we approach 2050, we are entering a new era with a long-term perspective with this modern plant.

 

 

How many users can be supplied with the plant?

The plant will have an electrical output of about 270 MW with a simultaneous thermal extraction of 230 MW and thus represents the backbone for the district heating supply in the eastern part of Berlin. Especially in the eastern part, we have around 450,000 district heating users, who are supplied by the Klingenberg site and primarily in base load from the site in Marzahn.

 

 

How quickly can the power plant react to the strongly fluctuating power demand?

With the influence of renewable energies and their fluctuating feed, we have a flexible system here that can quickly change its electrical and thermal output. The plant features high load change speeds. It can adapt to market conditions, while meeting 100% of the demand from our district heating users.

 

Everyone is talking about decentralized power generation. Why do we still need a central power plant of this size and type like here in Marzahn?

I think the mix will be decisive for the future. There will be an expansion of the decentralized supply. But even a facility such as here in Marzahn will be necessary. In fact, we have around 1.5 million district heating users in the capital who want to be supplied efficiently as needed in the future as well.

The plant here in Marzahn is an important location for the eastern part of Berlin for the district heating supply. This modern facility is of course a further step in the progress of the energy transition, which we are now pushing in this city.

Berlin-Marzahn
EuroHeat & Power Magazine Trade Press Article

District Heating for Berlin

Vattenfall Wärme Berlin has not only achieved its goal of halving CO2 emissions by 2020, but even exceeded them. A milestone in the concept of reducing emissions:  one of Europe’s most modern combined heat and power plant in Berlin-Marzahn that as general contractor, Siemens Energy built – in just over three years.

The power plant

Electricity and district heating for 150,000 households – with technology from Berlin

The heart of the power plant is the SGT5-2000E gas turbine, a reliable machine that has been proven for many years. It is manufactured only a few kilometers away – in Berlin-Moabit. Switchgear such as the vacuum circuit-breakers and generator switchgear are supplied from “Siemens City” in Berlin. And other key components come from the immediate neighborhood: the steam turbine from Görlitz, the generators from Erfurt, the low-voltage switchgear from Leipzig, and the oil-cooled transformers from Dresden. The medium-voltage switchgear is manufactured in Gebze, Turkey.

The power plant consists of the following components

Milestones and more

From the ground-breaking ceremony to the turnkey plant

The logistics requirements in industrialized countries with a highly-developed infrastructure are often very high. With a lot of planning and coordination work, we were able to deliver the components to the construction site in Marzahn on the target date and assemble them there. Commercial operation will start in 2020.
The challenges of this power plant are enormous. The customer placed a multitude of functional and technical demands on us because the security of supply has to be high.
Joachim Metzner, General Project Manager of CHP Marzahn, Siemens Energy