History

The waste-to-energy plant in Frankfurt

Since the waste incineration plant (AVA) was built in the 1960s, the steam generated by the incineration of household waste in the plant has been supplied to the neighboring combined heat and power plant (HKW). There, electricity and district heating for Frankfurt-Nordweststadt have always been generated using steam.

1984 to 1987 the previous technology of the 1960s was replaced by the modern technology of the 1980s. Extensive renovation and modernization work was carried out again and again in the following years in order to keep the system up to date with the latest technology.

The year 2005 was then to be a decisive turning point in the history of waste incineration plants: With the entry into force of the TASi (Technical Instructions for Municipal Waste) on June 1, 2005, all household waste - the waste of the gray bin - may only be disposed of thermally or biologically pretreated. That meant the end of all conventional landfills in the Federal Republic of Germany. In future, household waste from the Hochtaunuskreis, the Maintaunuskreis and other communities in the Rhine-Main area had to be incinerated in the AVA Nordweststadt. This made the expansion and modernization of the systems unavoidable in the long term.

In order to use economic and ecological synergies, the owners of the plants - the city of Frankfurt am Main and Mainova AG - decided to merge. The operators of the AVA and the HKW - FES GmbH and Mainova AG - began planning the operation of an ultra-modern waste-to-energy plant, the MHKW Frankfurt am Main.

The MHKW Frankfurt am Main has always not only supplied the Nordweststadt district. Due to the efficiency of the system and the enormous energy extraction, the supply network could be expanded: the Westend campus, the districts of Riedberg, Eschersheim and Bockenheim are now also connected. However, this does not mean that all of the goals have been achieved, as the expansion of the plant is to continue.

By using household waste as fuel for energy generation in a state-of-the-art facility, MHKW Müllheizkraftwerk Frankfurt am Main GmbH makes a significant contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, valuable resources such as oil, coal and natural gas are saved. In addition, the renewal of the flue gas cleaning system reduces the environmental impact to a minimum.