between 1935 and 1966. Vattenfall is owned by the Swedish Government, produces electricity, heat and produces gas. In Germany Vattenfall has 11 pump storage facilities (total 28 facilities in Germany). Vattenfall is Swedish for waterfall. Howenwarte I is 62mw and II is 320mw. In summer peak loads are at lunchtime and in winter morning and evening. These peak periods of fluctuation are best managed by pump storage power stations. Unlike the UK they are not paid to have some turbines spinning but not generating on standby for very rapid response to changing demand. The dams provide leisure opportunities and have important environmental benefits including managing flood protection, water management and power generation. Perhaps the lack of opposition to the schemes was that there were some serious floods just prior to their construction and they were used as protection, with the added bonus of producing cheap electricity.
The turbines move 1000 bath tubs of water a second driving Francis vertical axis turbines. Howenwarte II can be turned on within 115 seconds. An educational video explains a series of Hydro schemes owned by Vattenfall including one at Goldisthal that produces 1060 MW power, HEP at the River Elbe in the lowlands connects to a reservoir just 900meters uphill. In total 2,900 MW can be generated by Vattenfall's hydro capacity and the countrywide ability is 7000 MW, that’s just 3.4% of the country's energy generation requirements. They use cheap power in the night to pump the water up and then generate at peak times and sell power back into the grid; 28% of the power is offset to power the process so it's 72% efficient. We visit the Howenwarte II facility and what is clear is the scale and that these facilities require large infrastructure and are a long standing vital solution to a countries energy security - can we say the same for gas/fracking and fossil fuel power generation?
ENERGY FROM WASTE VISIT back at Suhl away from the calm of the reservoirs and longevity of Hydro for our afternoon visit we prepare ourselves for entering the Suhl EFW plant alongside a Sita dump truck....immediately we sign a Health & Safety form whilst introductions begin with the Chief Executive for the site, Herr Weiprecht.
Built in 2007 the Suhl EFW can take 160,000 tons of waste a year - in one hour they can burn 22 tons of waste. The waste comes from 500,000 people from 400,000km2 (Suhl has 40,000 people). They take all waste but glass, metal, plastic and paper is separated and taken to different facilities. The amount of waste collected is equal to 130kg per year per person for all waste. There are EU, German and regional laws to enforce waste separation. There are 70 stations in Germany burning 20million tons of waste a year - there is no landfill since 2005 and 99% of the recyclable waste goes to EFW. The station at Suhl is owned communally across the 5 local authorities, but most of the country’s 70 sites are owned privately and generate approximately 3% of the country’s energy mix. This site produces energy and heat; the furnace produces a peak of 60 MW of heat and about 120,000 MWh/year (this offsets the city of Suhl for the year). Through the year the production is a balance i.e. more heat in winter and more power in summer. At maximum electricity it generates 13.5 MW of electricity and no heat. At maximum heat it generates 9.5 MW of electricity and 30 MW of heat. The waste is burnt through a roasting process in a slanted chamber 80cm deep and the chamber is 11 by 9meters which is burning at around 1000 degrees heating the water which turns to steam and powers the turbines at a pressure of 40bar at 380degrees and then enters the district heating network at 135 degrees at 4 bar of pressure. The main focus is to burn the waste, energy is the by product and it works at 35% efficiency producing energy and heat. The waste products (25%) bad ash and filter ash (4%) includes metal that has to be carefully recycled and the filter ash needs to be buried and carefully stored away. The cleaning process for the gases goes through 4 rigid cleaning processes which we are told to be 99% efficient. There is a water collection facility and this provides all the water required in the process plant.
The site heats up to 18,000 homes and businesses via a heating network and local distribution companies. The heat network was historic as originally in situation prior to the EFW facility was built; this located at a nearby site and is a nationally owned heat facility powered by oil and coal. This is now a back up facility and used when the EFW requires maintenance once a year for a month. The Suhl hospital has its own EFW facility.
The planning process lasted 5 years, the local community was originally against the site and in total it took 10 years to develop and commission. Now however the community is for the site now they can understand the benefits and the good energy prices. Martin (company) was the builder who is now working in the UK. The visit was very informative and at the end of the day it is the residents of Suhl who get cheap heat and that is where we head off to test the district heated water back at the safety of our guest house.