Energy and water, Energy future

Power plant expansion 2020 to 2022

The modernization of our combined heat and power plant in Karcherstrasse was a milestone for the climate. A new substation was built, new chimneys were installed and four new state-of-the-art gas turbines were installed. In addition, three striking heat storage tanks were added.

3 Personen stehen mit dem Rücken zur Kamera während vor ihnen ein Kran einen Schornstein anhebt

Our investment in your secure energy supply

With the modernization of the CHP plant, SWK Stadtwerke Kaiserslautern Versorgungs-AG is consistently pursuing the path towards phasing out coal combustion. SWK’s combined heat and power plant has been generating electricity and district heating simultaneously using the principle of cogeneration since 1950. This reduces the use of primary energy sources. The new plant will be even more effective and electricity generation will be doubled.

The course of the project

Such a complex modernization project requires thorough planning. The laying of the foundation stone on March 9, 2020 marked the end of a multi-year planning phase and the start of the actual conversion.

SWK Stadtwerke Kaiserslautern Versorgungs-AG has reached another milestone in the modernization of its power plant. At the beginning of last week, the eagerly awaited four new chimneys arrived in Karcherstrasse. The new chimneys were delivered in four heavy goods vehicles.

As already reported in June, the municipal utilities are planning to successfully complete all the various tasks associated with the construction work by the end of the year. The third and final construction phase in the public area will start during the fall vacations in consultation with the responsible construction companies. The partial closure is expected to be lifted by the end of November.

Perfectly organized “mess”: This is what our combined heat and power plant looked like from the inside. Crammed with technology such as: Burners, filter systems, boilers, condensers, pumps, heat exchangers, ventilation technology, compressors, measurement and control technology…and everything has to come out.

Perfectly organized “mess”: This is what our combined heat and power plant looked like from the inside. Crammed with technology such as: Burners, filter systems, boilers, condensers, pumps, heat exchangers, ventilation technology, compressors, measurement and control technology…and everything has to come out.

In use for many years and visible from afar: the chimney. The exhaust air purification process produced gypsum as a waste product, which can be reused for concrete processing, for example. The two-part chimney, which is around 17.5 meters long, weighed around 10 tons and was removed using a special crane.  

On 9 March 2020, Markus Vollmer, CEO of SWK Stadtwerke Kaiserslautern Versorgungs-AG, Dr. Thomas Griese, State Secretary at the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry for the Environment, Energy, Food and Forestry, and Lord Mayor Dr. Klaus Weichel jointly laid the foundation stone for the modernization of the combined heat and power plant in Karcherstraße.

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