Electricity production since 1897

The power plant first generated electricity in 1897 with a maximum capacity of two megawatts. A thorough refurbishment of the plant between 1935 and 1938 brought an expansion to 55 megawatts of electric output. The year 1950 saw the first district heating customer being supplied with heating steam. This was the start of electricity generation according to the cogeneration principle, as is was practiced at the site until the decommissioning. In the years 1974/1975, new boiler installations were built on the power plant terrain on the basis of more environmentally friendly natural gas. The old plants then went off stream, step by step, and were dismantled in 2010/2011.

Expansion of combined heat and power generation

Since 2014 a new topping gas turbine has been in operation at the site. It supported the expansion of combined heat & power (CHP) generation, thus helped to achieve a key goal of the energy transition. The plant is a joint venture between RWE Generation and Dortmunder Energie- und Wasserversorgung GmbH. The two companies have invested seven million euros each in the project. The potential for power generation in cogeneration has been significantly increased with the topping turbine. Up to 45,000 households were supplied with electricity – as opposed to 10,000 with the old system. In addition, the new turbine reduced CO2 emissions by up to 36,000 tonnes a year when compared with older plants without CHP.

Securing district heating supply

Following a series of upgrades with four gas-fired boilers and a total heating capacity of 170 megawatts, the site secured the district heating supply to Dortmund and fed around 300,000 megawatt hours per year into the district heating grid until its decommissioning in 2022. In addition, it produced up to 130 megawatt hours of electricity. In 2003/2004, a turbine was added to the plant and the entire control system was replaced. The new topping gas turbine went into operation in 2014, which further improved the plant's efficiency and environmental friendliness. The Dortmund cogeneration plant is operated and monitored from the central control room in Essen-Karnap. 

Plant went off the grid on 9 June 2022

It was originally planned to operate the cogeneration plant until 30 September 2022, but now the plant has already been decommissioned on 9 June 2022. The decision was jointly made by RWE and DEW21, the operator of the Dortmund district heating network. Because the CHP Dortmund supplies DEW21 exclusively, it would be uneconomical to continue operating the power plant.

Planning for the dismantling of the facilities on the site has already begun. The deconstruction work is expected to begin in mid-2023. Afterwards, DEW21 will take over the area on which the current thermal power plant is built.