The Wedel power plant has been on the shutdown list for more than a decade. The end of the old coal kiln was postponed several times. Now the final end is much closer: on the Dradenau in the port of Hamburg, the gas turbine of the new gas and steam turbine power plant was ignited for the first time - with success.
With the so-called “First Fire”, the project on the Dradenau has reached an important step. According to the Hamburg energy works, the turbine was operated with fuel in a controlled manner for the first time. The system is scheduled to go into operation by the end of the year and feed district heating into the Hamburg city network.
However, there are still further steps to be taken before the combined cycle power plant delivers heat to the network. The test run of the turbine is followed by technical tests, tests for synchronization with the power grid and gradual integration into the energy supply. “The successful First Fire is a special moment for us,” said Kirsten Fust, spokeswoman for the management of Hamburger Energiewerke. “The test run showed that the technology works as intended and the systems work together safely.”
The new system is the central component of the so-called harbor energy park on the Elbe island of Dradenau. In the future, various previously unused heat sources will be brought together there. This includes heat from treated wastewater, industrial waste heat and other climate-neutral heat sources. According to the energy works, this is a new concept in Germany because the different heat sources are brought together via a separate third-party heat system and made usable for district heating supply. The different temperature levels are coordinated and prepared for feeding into the heating network, usually heated up.
There are great expectations associated with the project. The new power plant is intended to replace the Wedel thermal power plant, which has been supplying a large part of western Hamburg with district heating since the 1960s. The Hafen Energy Park is intended to become a central component of the coal phase-out in district heating supply. Investments of 786.8 million euros were last mentioned for the new combined cycle plant in July. This makes the project one of the largest projects in Hamburg's heating transition.
Environment Senator Katharina Fegebank therefore spoke of a “real milestone for the energy and heat transition in Hamburg”. The Hafen Energy Park is a central building block for the coal phase-out and the replacement of the Wedel thermal power plant. Hamburg plans to phase out coal in district heating by 2030.
However, the current progress was preceded by setbacks. At the end of September 2025, Hamburger Energiewerke had to admit that the completion of the combined cycle plant would be delayed by several months. The cause was significant additional work on part of the piping system. Despite additional fitters and increased multi-shift operation, the time lost could no longer be made up. The energy works explained at the time that the plant would be completed later than planned and that the Wedel thermal power plant would therefore not be replaced until the end of 2026. According to the company, at this point the facility was around 85 percent complete and around 950 people were working on the construction site.
In the summer of 2026, the energy plants reported further progress. The problematic pipeline work has been completed, the connection to the power grid has been completed and the so-called southern line to connect to the Hamburg district heating network has been largely completed. At the beginning of July, the degree of completion was stated as 95 percent.
The old coal-fired power plant in Wedel will not be replaced immediately. According to current plans, it will continue to run parallel to the new system and secure its operation throughout the entire 2026/27 heating season. Only after the end of the heating season will the power plant go into so-called conservation. According to Hamburger Energiewerke, the final shutdown is scheduled for July 1, 2027.
