Schwarze Pumpe power station

Schwarze Pumpe power station (German: Kraftwerk Schwarze Pumpe translated: Black Pump Power Station) is a modern lignite-fired power station in the "Schwarze Pumpe" (Black Pump) district in Spremberg, Germany consisting of 2 × 800 megawatts (MW) units. It came into service in 1997–1998 and was built by Siemens. The power station was sold by Vattenfall to the Czech energy group EPH and its financial partner PPF Investments on 30 September 2016.[1]

Schwarze Pumpe power station
Official nameKraftwerk Schwarze Pumpe
CountryGermany
LocationSchwarze Pumpe district in Spremberg
Coordinates51°32′10″N 14°21′12″E
StatusOperational
Commission date1997
Owner(s)Vattenfall Europe
Operator(s)
Thermal power station
Primary fuelCoal
Power generation
Units operational2
Nameplate capacity1600 MW
External links
CommonsRelated media on Commons

The steam generator is 161 metres (528 ft) high and has an observation deck on its top.

Carbon capture and storage pilot plant

Construction started on 26 May 2006, in the Schwarze Pumpe industrial area, on the oxy-fuel combustion process carbon capture and storage pilot plant. With a thermal power of 30 MW, the plant burned coal with pure oxygen (nitrogen-free) gas replacing air in what is known as oxy-fuel combustion. The idea was that the resulting carbon dioxide would be compressed and liquefied. It would then be put into geologic formations and stored so as not to contribute to global warming. The aim of the plant wasn't to produce electricity but to produce steam which would then be used by nearby industry.

Vattenfall stopped carbon capture R&D at the plant in 2014 because they found that "its costs and the energy it requires make the technology unviable".[2]

The facility was meant to serve as a prototype for larger power plants. Back in 2005 environmentalists criticized the facility. In their opinion a greater impact on the reduction of global warming could have been obtained for the same money through investments in renewable energies and efficient power production and use.[3]

Criticisms
See also: Ende Gelände 2016

On 13–15 May 2016, 3,500–4,000 environmental activists blocked the open-pit coal mine and the Schwarze Pumpe power station to limit climate change. This protest was known as Ende Gelände 2016.

On 14 May 2016 Vattenvall reported that environmental campaigners tried to force the power plant to shut down by occupying the coal transport railway tracks into the plant. 120 people were arrested. 2,000 climate activists occupied different areas of the nearby mine Welzow-Süd and the rails of the coal transport trains in order to stop the fuel supply to the power plant Schwarze Pumpe and thereby enforce a stop of plant operation.

References
  1. "Vattenfall completes German lignite business sale" (PDF) (Press release). Stockholm, Sweden: Vattenfall. 30 September 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2016. Vattenfall has completed the sale of its German lignite business to the Czech energy group EPH and its financial partner PPF Investments.
  2. "Vattenfall abandons research on CO2 storage". The Local. 7 May 2014.
  3. Tim Mansel (2 July 2005). "Germany plans C02-free power plant". BBC. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
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