Altbach Power Station is a coal-fired
power plant
A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid.
Many pow ...
owned and operated by
EnBW
EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, or simply EnBW, is a publicly-traded energy company headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany. As its name indicates, EnBW is based in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
History Foundation and development
EnB ...
at
Altbach
Altbach is a municipality in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg. It belongs to the Stuttgart Region. (until 1992 ''Region Mittlerer Neckar'') and the European Metropolitan Region Stuttgart.
Geography Geographical location
Altb ...
,
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. It has an output capacity of 1,036 MWe, 783MW being coal fired divided amongst two 420-30MW units and 253MW of gas fired capacity divided amongst four units ranging from 53-85MW. The power station is also connected to the Mittlerer Neckar district heating system.
The first power plant on the Altbach site was built in 1899. The precursors of the current power plant went into service in 1950 (unit 1) and in 1956 and 1958 (units 2 and 3). Unit 1 was shut down in 1982 and demolished in 1985. Units 2 and 3 were shut down and demolished in 1993.
Unit 1 was replaced by a new unit in 1985 and units 2 and 3 by a new unit in 1997. Both units have 250 metre tall chimneys.
Unit 1 from 1985 received architectural landmark status in November 2021. Like the visitor center and the new Unit 2, it is the work of the German Architect
Gerhard Feuser of the group Angerer & Feuser.
The power station also features a forced draft
cooling tower
A cooling tower is a device that rejects waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a coolant stream, usually a water stream to a lower temperature. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and ...
which is used to cool the remaining water not used in the heating system.
Gallery
File:Altbach 1.jpg, Architect's Sketch Block 1
File:Altbach 1-2.jpg, Architect's Sketch Block 1
file:Altbach_Power_Plant_Visitor_Center.jpg, Architect's Rendering of the Visitor Center
File:AltbachPowerPlant-pjt1.jpg, Altbach Power Station
File:Deizisau_from_Altbach_Power_Station.JPG, Deizisau from roof of power plant
File:Neckar_from_Altbach_Power_Plant_Roof.JPG, Neckar river from power plant roof
File:Kamin_Kraftwerk_Altbach1.JPG, 250 metres tall chimney of Altbach power plant
File:Altbach_Gas_Turbine_Plant.JPG, Altbach gas turbine power plant
File:Altbach_Power_Plant_Cooling_Tower.JPG, Altbach plant cooling tower
File:Ventilator_Cooling_Tower_Altbach.JPG, Fan in Altbach power plant cooling tower
File:Engine_Altbach_Power_Plant.JPG, Engine of Altbach power plant for coal transport
File:Kamin_Kraftwerk_Altbach2.JPG, Close view of 250 metres tall chimney
File:Altbach_Power_Plant_Coal_Dump.JPG, Coal storge of Altbach Power Plant
File:Altbach_Power_Plant_Coal_Mills.JPG, Coal Mills of Altbach Power Plant
File:Altbach_Power_Plant_Machine_Hall.JPG, Altbach Power Plant Machine Hall
File:Altbach_Power-Plant_Feeder_Pump.JPG, Feeder Pump of Altbach Power Plant
File:Altbach_Power_Plant1.JPG, Altbach Power Plant, Unit 1
File:Altbach_Power_Plant2.JPG, Altbach Power Plant, Unit 2
File:Altbach_Power_Plant_Turbine_on_display.JPG, Turbine on display at Altbach Power Plant
File:Altbach_Power_Plant_Pylon.JPG, Pylon of departing power line
References
Coal-fired power stations in Germany
Buildings and structures in Esslingen (district)
{{Germany-powerstation-stub