Papier- Und Kartonfabrik Varel (PVK) power station is a 41 MW gas power plant in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is operated by Papier- u. Kartonfabrik Varel GmbH & Co KG. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 46k homes (estimated). It ranks #385 of 1,442 Germany power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1989, it is around 37 years old — long-established. Its modelled annual emissions are 60,956 t CO₂/yr (Climate TRACE), equivalent to about 14k cars driven for a year. In context, gas supplies about 16.5% of Germany's electricity; the national grid averages 330 gCO₂/kWh (59.1% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id CT-67.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000400234); fuel: GEM wiki unit-level operating Fuel(s), fetched 2026-07-05
At 41 MW, Papier- Und Kartonfabrik Varel (PVK) power station is below the median gas plant in Germany (53 MW). Technically it is described as Steam. Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies; modelled emissions from Climate TRACE.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Papier- u. Kartonfabrik Varel GmbH & Co KG.
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 53.4°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 34% 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: 71/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
A gas turbine here also runs ~0% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).
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.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #136 largest gas power plant of 241 in Germany by capacity.
Germany has 241 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 37,245 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 53.4032, 8.1282 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Papier- Und Kartonfabrik Varel (PVK) power station is a 41 MW source-record gas power plant in Lower Saxony, Germany, commissioned in 1989.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 46,065 homes (estimated).
Papier- Und Kartonfabrik Varel (PVK) power station is operated by Papier- u. Kartonfabrik Varel GmbH & Co KG.
Papier- Und Kartonfabrik Varel (PVK) power station has modelled emissions of about 60,956 tonnes of CO₂ per year (Climate TRACE).
