Uniper Gets Preliminary Approval for Hesse CCGT Plant

Uniper SE has received preliminary approval from the Darmstadt Regional Authority for a natural gas-fired generation plant designed to be hydrogen-compatible in the future.

The project is part of the Staudinger power station in the central German state of Hesse, previously a five-unit electricity production site now operating only with a 622-megawatt (MW) unit fueled by gas and a 522-MW unit running on coal.

"The new hydrogen-ready combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant, with a planned electrical feed-in capacity of up to 890 megawatts, is designed to secure the Grosskrotzenburg power station's long-term role as a key energy hub in the Rhine-Main region", German multinational Uniper said in a press release.

"At the same time, it will contribute flexible, dispatchable generation capacity that Germany’s power system needs for a successful energy transition".

Uniper plans to enter the project into auctions under the draft legislation on power supply security, Strom VKG.

The preliminary approval process aimed to reduce project risks before the formal permitting process.

"Key areas of focus included strict air pollutant emission requirements as well as complex issues related to habitat and species protection", Uniper said. "In addition, there were challenging requirements arising from the local zoning plan. The process was coordinated in close collaboration with technology partner Siemens Energy".

Andreas Armenat, who heads the Staudinger site, said, "We navigated a demanding process - involving complex issues, numerous stakeholders, and around 150 application documents. The fact that we have now resolved these questions early and with binding effect gives us the planning certainty that a project of this scale requires".

Uniper expects to submit a permit application for the subsurface infrastructure in the third quarter, followed by an application for construction and operation in the second quarter of 2027, Uniper said.

Uniper's plans for the Staudinger site also include battery energy storage systems and data centers.

As of yearend 2025 Uniper had a generation capacity of 18.52 gigawatts (GW), according to its annual report.

Uniper targets a power production capacity of 15-20 GW by 2030, of which 50 percent would be "renewable, low-carbon or decarbonizable", according to an updated plan it announced in its statement for the first half of 2025.

"The company intends to invest about EUR 8 billion [$9.35 billion] in its transformation by the early 2030s and, according to its current estimate of market developments, to invest about EUR 5 billion through 2030", the H1 statement said.

Most of the EUR 5 billion planned for the decade is for Uniper's Green and Flexible Generation segments. The remainder is for the Greener Commodities segment.

To contact the author, email jov.onsat@rigzone.com