The existing power plant blocks 1 – 3 have reached the end of their economic and technical life span. Therefore, by 2011 they will be replaced with a new, highly efficient hard coal fired power plant. This way, we can ensure, even in the future, not only a great proportion of the railway energy supply – the new construction will be the largest railway power supply point in Germany - but also that of the Emscher-Lipper region. Running at over 45 percent efficiency, the construction in Datteln sets new standards with regard to energy efficiency and climate protection. The environmental balance sheet in the region will improve by more than 20 percent.

The design of the new hard coal fired power plant, Datteln 4, is based on the use of state-of-the-art energy technology and marks a leap in the efficiency of using coal for the generation of electric energy – resulting in an increased level of supply security and climate protection. Due to the high degree of efficiency, the natural resources will be protected and the carbon monoxide emissions reduced considerably.


The Datteln 4 power plant will also generate district heating for the region in accordance with the principle of combined heat and power.