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Bergkamen power station

Coal power plant in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Approximate location 51.637, 7.6191.

CoalNorth Rhine-WestphaliaGermany

Bergkamen power station is a 717 MW coal power station in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is operated by Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Bergkamen A oHG. Based on reported annual generation of 1,798 GWh, it can supply roughly 513,857 homes. It ranks #47 of 1,369 Germany power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1981, it is around 45 years old — long-established. In context, coal supplies about 20.6% of Germany's electricity; the national grid averages 330 gCO₂/kWh (59.1% low-carbon) (2025).

717MW installed capacity
1,798GWh reported / yr
513,857homes powered
1981commissioned (~45 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1005584.

~1,798,500 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

419,231passenger cars driven for a year
234,546homes' yearly energy use
29,975,000tree seedlings grown 10 years to absorb it

Estimated, not measured: from reported annual generation × a typical coal emission factor (~1000 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.

Reported generation trend

2016: 3,106 GWh20162017: 1,798 GWh20173k GWh

Annual generation (GWh), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).

Owner

Operated by Gemeinschaftskraftwerk Bergkamen A oHG.

Local climate & thermal context

This coal plant burns coal to raise high-pressure steam that spins a turbine-generator. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 51.6°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.5°Cannual mean temp
3,077heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
94 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 2 °CJF: 2 °CFM: 5 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 16 °CJJ: 18 °CJA: 17 °CAS: 14 °CSO: 10 °CON: 6 °CND: 3 °CD18 °C

Heating degree-days here run 25% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.

Climate heat-demand index: 64/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.

In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.

Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.

How it compares & nearby plants

The #28 largest coal power plant of 98 in Germany by capacity.

Germany has 98 coal power plants in this dataset, together about 49,623 MW of capacity.

Nearby power plants

Location

Coordinates 51.637, 7.6191 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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