Statoil and Stadtwerke Düsseldorf have signed a 15-year arrangement for the supply of natural gas to Stadtwerke Düsseldorf’s upcoming 600-MW gas power plant (CCGT) in Lausward/Düsseldorf, Germany.
The power plant is expected to become one of the most efficient plants worldwide, as the heat produced will be used for the district heating system. Gas deliveries are planned to start in 2016.
The agreement builds on the liberalising gas, power and emissions markets and the available market price indices to enable risk- and reward-sharing between parties, and represents a new type of partnership in the German gas-to-power market. The concept enables Stadtwerke Düsseldorf to run the plant in the most economical way, including steam production for district heating.
“This new partnership with Stadtwerke Düsseldorf is a stepping stone for Statoil’s strategy to promote gas in the power segment throughout Europe in general, but in Germany specifically,” says Rune Bjørnson, senior vice president responsible for Statoil’s Natural Gas business unit.
“Without highly efficient and flexible gas plants, the German Energiewende (energy transition) will not be successful. The agreement was possible despite an unfavourable regulatory framework for gas-to-power. Natural gas is the cleanest of all fossil fuels and can contribute to more than 50% CO2 emission reductions compared to coal,” Bjørnson says.
