On 11th February 2020, the ground-breaking ceremony for the modernisation and expansion of the power plant of the Palm paper mill in Wörth took place.
€100m will be invested in the development project. The first gas turbine installation worldwide of a new generation from Siemens sets new standards in environmental sustainability. CO2 emissions are significantly reduced despite a 30% increase in power generation. Thanks to the increased flexibility of the modernised power plant, it can be started up and shut down very quickly in order to react to and compensate for the increasing load fluctuations in the grid.
With its large-scale power plant project, the Palm paper mill in Wörth is the ideal partner for the energy strategy being promoted by the German government, which is pursuing the goal of implementing decentralised power plants based on the principle of localised combined heat and power generation. This concept eliminates long transmission lines and the associated power losses.
The new power plant in Wörth pursues and supports three objectives of the energy transition:
- Decarbonisation through the expansion of residual waste recycling capacities. For example, the fuel energy contained in residual materials is used to dry the paper web and substitute fossil energy sources;
- Decentralisation through local and expanded electricity production. This will not only supply the paper mill, but also the town of Wörth and neighbouring communities with electricity;
- Flexibility through the most modern gas turbine. This allows for grid fluctuations, which for example are caused by the feed-in of renewable energy, to be optimally compensated.
Papierfabrik Palm has committed €500m to enhancing its business, with funds being invested also in the main plant in Aalen. A new paper machine will replace three older plants at the mill from 2021.
