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Boxberg power station

Coal power plant in Saxony, Germany. Approximate location 51.4163, 14.5619.

CoalSaxonyGermany

Boxberg power station is a 2,585 MW coal power station in Saxony, Germany. It is operated by Vattenfall Europe AG. Based on reported annual generation of 17,442 GWh, it can supply roughly 4,983,428 homes. It ranks #3 of 1,369 Germany power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1989, it is around 37 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).

2,585MW installed capacity
17,442GWh reported / yr
4,983,428homes powered
1989commissioned (~37 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1005616.

~17,442,000 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

4,065,734passenger cars driven for a year
2,274,648homes' yearly energy use
290,700,000tree 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

2015: 17,877 GWh20152016: 16,940 GWh20162017: 17,442 GWh201718k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by Vattenfall Europe AG. All plants by this company →

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 51.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.0°Cannual mean temp
3,272heating degree-days (base 18°C)
3cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
160 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 0 °CJF: 1 °CFM: 4 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 13 °CMJ: 16 °CJJ: 18 °CJA: 18 °CAS: 14 °CSO: 10 °CON: 4 °CND: 1 °CD18 °C

Heating degree-days here run 33% 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: 70/100 — this site sits in the top 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 #3 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 51.4163, 14.5619 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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