Heizkraftwerk Köln-Niehl
Rheinenergie's gas-fired combined heat and power plant in Niehl — supplying Cologne's city centre with district heating, with Germany's largest heat pump planned next door.
The Niehl combined heat and power plant, operated by Rheinenergie, sits in Cologne's Niehl district and feeds the city centre — among other areas — with district heating. The facility runs on natural gas.
Source: Wikipedia
At a Glance
- Type
- gas-fired combined heat and power plant (electricity and district heating)
- Operator
- Rheinenergie
- Location
- Niehl district, Nippes borough
- Units
- CCGT block (from 2003) and Niehl 3 (2016); original plant built 1977, decommissioned by 2008
- Cooling
- water drawn from the Rhine harbour
- Planned
- large-scale heat pump (150 MW), due to go live in 2027
The planned large-scale heat pump next to the power plant is set to become Germany's largest heat pump with 150 MW of thermal output, using Rhine river water as its heat source to supply around 30,000 households.
History
The first unit (Plant I) opened in 1977, using a gas- and oil-fired Benson tower boiler. It delivered around 315 MW of electrical output and roughly 350 MW of district heat; the chimney atop the building reached 180 metres. After its successor block came online, Plant I was shut down and fully dismantled by 2008. A coal-fired unit briefly considered for the site was shelved in 2007, primarily due to rising construction costs.
The CCGT Blocks
From 2003, a combined cycle gas turbine plant (Plant II) was built around a Siemens V94.3A gas turbine with a downstream heat recovery steam generator, delivering roughly 145 MW of electricity plus 370 MW of district heat. Cooling and district heating systems were largely carried over from Plant I. Rhine harbour water handles cooling under normal conditions; the wet cooling tower only kicks in during warm summers or low river levels, when legal limits on Rhine water temperature would otherwise be breached. A second unit, Niehl 3, entered trial operation in late September 2015 and was officially inaugurated in September 2016.
Niehl 3 in Detail
Alstom served as general contractor, supplying an GT26 gas turbine among other components. The unit is rated at 450 MW electrical output and can extract 265 MW of district heat. Electrical efficiency stands at 60 per cent; fuel utilisation rises to up to 88 per cent when feeding the district heating network. Niehl 3 can ramp from standby to full load in under 15 minutes and operates across a range of 20 to 100 per cent of rated capacity. It is connected to Amprion's 380 kV grid and RheinNetz's 110 kV network.
Planned Large-Scale Heat Pump
In June 2023, Rheinenergie announced plans to build a 150 MW heat pump directly adjacent to the plant — which would make it the largest heat pump in Germany at the time. Rhine water will serve as the heat source; the pump will feed into Cologne's district heating network and is calculated to supply around 30,000 households. MAN Energy Solutions will deliver the unit, with commissioning targeted for 2027.
Timeline
- 1977Commissioning of original plant (Unit I) with Benson tower boiler
- 2003Construction begins on combined-cycle plant (Unit II)
- 2007Plans for coal-fired plant abandoned or postponed
- 2008Decommissioning of Unit I completed
- 2012Decision to build a third combined-cycle plant (Niehl 3)
- 2013Construction of Niehl 3 begins (December)
- 2015Trial operation of Niehl 3 starts (late September)
- 2016Official inauguration of Niehl 3 (September)
- 2023Announcement of large heat pump (150 MW) adjacent to the plant
- 2024Contracts for large heat pump awarded to MAN Energy Solutions
- 2027Planned commissioning of the large heat pump
Map
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Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-06-26