Grohnde nuclear power plant sets new record in electricity generation

8 February 2021

On 7 February 2021, the Grohnde nuclear power plant (KWG) passed the mark of 400 billion kilowatt hours of electricity generated. At exactly 23.01 hrs, the counter in the power plant’s control room jumped to the magic number. This new record continues the success story of the pressurized water reactor on the river Weser. There is not a single NPP unit in the world that has generated more electricity.

"Our power plants are still among the best in the world," said Dr Erwin Fischer, Technology and Operations Director at PreussenElektra. "They proved that again last year under the difficult pandemic conditions. We are very pleased that KWG has managed to set such a record in its last year of operation," he continued.

Michael Bongartz, plant manager at Grohnde, added: "I am proud of what the site team have achieved. With great personal commitment and the support of our specialist contractors, the KWG staff have always taken good care of their plant. They are now reaping the rewards. I am delighted about this, because we could not have delivered more convincing proof of the safety and performance of our power plant."

The NPP’s success story began with its first synchronization to the grid on 5 September 1984: since then, the pressurized water reactor has been world champion in annual power generation a total of eight times and has had an average availability of almost 92 percent – also an excellent value by international comparison. Even today, KWG still accounts for a good twelve percent of electricity generation in Lower Saxony. In recent years in particular, the power plant has also increasingly served as a standby plant at the request of the network operator, thus helping to stabilize power supply in Germany.

In addition, over the past 36 years, operation of the Grohnde NPP has saved 400 million tonnes of carbon emissions that would have otherwise been produced by coal and gas-fired power plants.

^{Grohnde NPP has a gross installed capacity of 1,430 MW and employs around 500 people. In accordance with the 13th Amendment of the Atomic Energy Act, Grohnde is scheduled to be retired from the grid by December 31, 2021 at the latest.}

^{This press release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by E.ON Group Management and other information currently available to E.ON. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. E.ON SE does not intend, and does not assume any liability whatsoever, to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.}