EnBW, EDF and RKI GmbH inaugurated the new fifth machine in Iffezheim hydropower plant

EnBW and 200 guests celebrate the expansion of Germany’s largest run-of-river power plant

Stuttgart/Iffezheim, Germany, 30-10-2013 — /EuropaWire/ — Along with EDF and the operating company RKI GmbH, EnBW today inaugurated the new fifth machine that has already been commissioned. In the presence of more than 200 guests from Germany and France, four young trainees, together with Minister of State Silke Krebs, Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger, Frédéric Hofmann, EDF’s Director of Hydropower Production/East, and EnBW’s CEO Frank Mastiaux, symbolically turned the four impeller wheels of a model of the fifth machine. The expansion of the Rhine hydropower plant was completed in the summer following a construction period lasting four years. Since then, the Iffezheim barrage has been processing 1,500 m3 of water a second and converting it into electricity for a year’s supply to around a quarter of a million households.

“Hydropower has been a bedrock of renewable energy production at EnBW and its predecessor companies for more than a century. The expansion of the Iffezheim/Rhine hydropower plant marks the building of a bridge which connects this long-standing tradition with the course we have charted into a future with sustainable energy”, stated Frank Mastiaux, Chief Executive Officer of EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG. “By 2020, we intend to have more than trebled our share of renewable energies in our own power generation, which will take it to some 40 percent The collaboration of all those who worked on the planning and construction of this new power plant has made a definitive contribution to bringing us another step closer to our goal.”

Silke Krebs, Minister of State of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg said: “With the fifth machine in the Iffezheim run-of-river power plant, the project partners have sent out an important signal in the expansion of renewable energies in Baden-Württemberg and made a huge contribution to climate protection and securing the supply at a high technological level. The project shows how economy and ecology can successfully and profitably go hand in hand.

EU Commissioner Günther H. Oettinger “The Iffezheim/Rhine power plant is a German-French project of European relevance. Hydropower which is capable of covering the base load is becoming increasingly important. It is flexible, which makes it an ideal partner for securing a cross-border supply to European member states. I congratulate EnBW and EDF on their effective partnership”

Frédéric Hofmann, EDF’s Director of Hydropower Production/East:”The fifth machine, fruit of the cooperation between the EDF Group and EnBW, is a huge technical achievement for flexible and competitive renewable energy, and serves to promote the economy, also from a social and regional standpoint, while taking account of the environment.”

The Iffezheim/Rhine hydropower plant is Germany’s largest run-of-river power plant today and one of the largest in Europe. Five large Kaplan bulb turbines and a rotor turbine with a peak output totalling 148 megawatts feed renewable energy from hydropower into the grid on both sides of the Rhine. This is enough to supply around 250,000 households a year. The installation of the fifth turbine commenced in 2009 and was successfully completed following a four-year construction period, 35 years after the construction of the Rhine power plant on the German-French border. The plant is operated by Rheinkraftwerk Iffezheim GmbH in which EnBW and EDF each hold a 50 percent stake.

EnBW will open the Rhine power plant to the public on 19 October, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Interested parties can also book viewings under the telephone number 0800 20 300 40 or besichtigungen@enbw.com at any time during the year.

Maria Dehmer
Press Spokeswoman

EnBW Erneuerbare und Konventionelle Erzeugung AG
Schelmenwasenstraße 15
70567 Stuttgart
Phone: +49 711 289-89190
Fax: +49 711 289-89194
E-Mail: presse-erzeugung@enbw.com

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v.l. Thierry Caillaud, Heinz Seiffert, Günther H. Oettinger, Frank Mastiaux, Frédéric Hofmann, Silke Krebs, Claus Dieter Hoffmann, Hans-Josef Zimmer, Philippe Richert