300 MW plant online in Germany

Energy supplier LEAG has commissioned its first gas-fired power plant in southern Germany in cooperation with Siemens Energy.

The 300 MW gas turbine power plant in Leipheim (GKL) will help secure the German energy transition in the future, according to LEAG CEO Thorsten Kramer. The LEAG CEO emphasized that there is no alternative to grid-stabilizing systems such as the Leipheim gas-fired power plant as an interim solution in the current challenging times of change in the energy industry.

“In the medium term, we need a new generation of gas-fired power plants that will be H2-ready by 2030 and then gradually converted to full operation with green hydrogen,” he said. “With this perspective, we are already planning another gas power plant for the energy transition in southern Germany at this location. It will be of a similar magnitude but will be H2 ready.”

Kramer said LEAG’s future concept for the construction of gas power plants, battery storage and hydrogen systems in combination with the expansion of wind and PV on former mining areas (“GigawattFactory”), which is also planned by LEAG, can help the energy transition to achieve a breakthrough.

LEAG intends to invest up to €10 billion in the “green base load” energy transition model by 2030 and to become active nationwide in addition to the Lausitz focus region.

“Wind and sun only make up half of a successful energy transition The secure energy supply of the future also urgently needs storage and low-emission, flexible gas and innovative power plants,” Kramer said.

The 300 MW gas turbine power plant in Leipheim, Germany. (Image:LEAG/Andreas Friese)

Dr. Hans-Jürgen Brick, CEO of Amprion GmbH, said the construction of the new Leipheim gas-fired power plant and the associated switchgear was completed in a record time of less than 24 months.

“The energy transition can therefore pick up speed if everyone pulls together,” he said. “However, we still need more innovative equipment. We are implementing such a project with the decentralized battery storage facility in Bavarian Swabia. It will help us on several grid levels to load the power grid higher and eliminate bottlenecks.”

Like the two other grid-stabilizing gas turbine power plants of LEAG, Thyrow and Ahrensfelde near Berlin, the Leipheim gas power plant is monitored by LEAG’s Schwarze Pumpe power plant and is integrated into its control system. The highly automated power plant in Leipheim is operated from the central control room of Siemens Energy in Erlangen. Siemens Energy is also responsible for operational management and maintenance on site in Leipheim.