Leipheim gas-fired power plant starts operation

• 8 months ago (2023-08-02)
• Junior Isles

Gas 371 Hydrogen 53

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In a collaboration with Siemens Energy , German utility LEAG has commissioned its first gas-fired power plant in southern Germany at the site of a former air base in Leipheim. The 300 MW Leipheim gas power plant will help secure the German energy transition. The plant will be used exclusively on request of grid operator Amprion , which commissioned it to secure grid stability against the background of the ongoing coal phase-out and the increase of fluctuating renewable energy in Germany.

The Leipheim gas-fired power plant was built as a special grid technical resource ( “ besonderes netztechnisches Betriebsmittel “) in accordance with the German Energy Industry Act (“Energiewirtschaftsgesetz”) . The plant won’t be in continuous operation or participate in the electricity market: It will only be ramped up when needed to stabilize the grid.

Olaf Kreyenberg, Vice President Gas Services Sales Europe, Russia & Central Asia at Siemens Energy, explains: "The power plant in Leipheim is an important building-block for a secure energy supply of the future. Our experts can ramp up the plant in less than 30 minutes via secure remote access from Erlangen to feed the required power into the grid. It’s a lighthouse project for the energy transition in Germany."

Like LEAG's two other grid-stabilizing gas-fired power plants – Thyrow and Ahrensfelde near Berlin – the Leipheim plant is monitored by LEAG's Schwarze Pumpe power plant and is integrated in its control system. The highly automated power plant in Leipheim is operated from Siemens Energy’s central control room in Erlangen. On-site operation and maintenance in Leipheim are also executed by Siemens Energy.

At the commissioning ceremony, LEAG CEO Thorsten Kramer announced that the company is already planning another gas-fired power plant on the site that will be H2-ready and gradually converted to full operation with green hydrogen.