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Weisweiler power station

Coal power plant in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Approximate location 50.8392, 6.3211.

CoalNorth Rhine-WestphaliaGermany

Weisweiler power station is a 1,800 MW coal power station in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is operated by RWE Power AG. Based on reported annual generation of 15,236 GWh, it can supply roughly 4,353,285 homes. It ranks #10 of 1,369 Germany power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1968, it is around 58 years old — an older, legacy facility. In context, coal supplies about 20.6% of Germany's electricity; the national grid averages 330 gCO₂/kWh (59.1% low-carbon) (2025).

1,800MW installed capacity
15,236GWh reported / yr
4,353,285homes powered
1968commissioned (~58 yrs)

Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1006134.

~15,236,500 t CO₂/yr (estimated) — in everyday terms

This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:

3,551,632passenger cars driven for a year
1,987,024homes' yearly energy use
253,941,667tree 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: 14,338 GWh20152016: 15,055 GWh20162017: 15,236 GWh201715k GWh

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

Owner

Operated by RWE Power 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 50.8°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.

9.4°Cannual mean temp
3,135heating degree-days (base 18°C)
0cooling degree-days (base 18°C)
240 melevation

Monthly mean temperature

J: 2 °CJF: 2 °CFM: 5 °CMA: 8 °CAM: 12 °CMJ: 15 °CJJ: 17 °CJA: 17 °CAS: 14 °CSO: 10 °CON: 5 °CND: 3 °CD17 °C

Heating degree-days here run 28% 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: 66/100 — 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 #7 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 50.8392, 6.3211 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.

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