RWE buys 1.4-GW Dutch Magnum gas-fired power plant for Eur500 million

German utility RWE has bought the 1.4-GW Magnum power station in Groningen, the Netherlands from Sweden's Vattenfall for Eur500 million ($534 million), the utilities said June 2.

The three-unit combined cycle gas-fired power station has been in operation since 2013 and could be converted to run partly or completely on hydrogen.

Its operation in combination with RWE's adjacent 1.56-GW Eemshaven coal-and-biomass-fired power plant "enables RWE to develop Eemshaven into one of the leading energy and hydrogen hubs in Northwest Europe," said RWE Generation CEO Roger Miesen.

Success in the ongoing 1.5-GW Hollandse Kust West offshore wind competition would bolster these plans, Miesen said.

RWE's bid for the Dutch offshore wind concession includes a proposal for a 600-MW electrolyzer, the utility said May 16.

The tender closed May 12. Results are expected this autumn, with offshore capacity due to be online in 2026.

Other Hollandse Kust West bidders include BP, proposing a 500 MW electrolzyer in the Rotterdam region, and TotalEnergies/Orsted, proposing a 600 MW electrolyzer in the Zeeland region.

Platts assessed the price of Dutch electrolytic hydrogen (PEM electrolysis including capex) at Eur12.91/kg June 1, S&P Global Commodity Insights data showed. Front-month baseload power futures settled at Eur204.25/MWh May 31 on the ICE Endex exchange.

Vattenfall said proceeds from the Magnum sale would be used "to invest in the energy transition, for example in fossil free energy projects such as offshore wind and district heating and cooling."

It had been developing the "H2M" (Hydrogen to Magnum) project at the site in collaboration with Equinor and Gasunie, with plans to convert one of Magnum's three 440-MW CCGT units to hydrogen.

Meanwhile RWE has its own Eemshydrogen project for a 50-MW electrolysis unit connected directly to its Westereems wind farm.