In the second tender for capacity reserve, RWE won the bid for its combined-cycle natural gas units F and G at the Gersteinwerk site in Werne, North Rhine-Westphalia. The two gas units will provide 355 megawatts (MW) of reserve capacity each, 710 MW in total, from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2024 – at a rate of 62.94 Euros per kilowatt (kW) and year. The two units also won the first tender of this type two years ago. The price at the time was 68 Euros per kW and year.
In order to function as capacity reserve, the systems must always be on standby and ready to be started up. Should one of the units fail to feed sufficient power into the grid or not feed the electricity into the grid accurately enough, contractual penalties are incurred.
Dr Aiko Vogelsang, general manager of Gersteinwerk, explains: “It is an enormous success for the project team and all RWE employees in Werne that our two units have once again become part of the capacity reserve. Over the past two years, we demonstrated that we meet all the demands of a reserve power plant reliably and professionally. Now, we have ensured that we can make a considerable contribution to system stability.”