Maasvlakte
E.ON’s 1,040 MW coal-fired plant on the Maasvlakte dates from 1988. The new power plant will be built on the same site as the current E.ON plant. This location has a number of great advantages for coal-fired power plants. Proximity to deep navigable waterways gives the port of Rotterdam excellent facilities for the bulk supply of coal and biomass. In turn, this gives the plant several major cost benefits compared with inland locations in the Netherlands or Germany. The area also has good logistic facilities. Cooling water, coal and connections with the electricity grid are all near to hand.
The fact that the MPP3-plant can be cooled with seawater means there is no need to build a cooling column. This will boost output by between 0.3 and 0.5 percent compared to similar, inland plants. This increase in output will also directly lead to environmental advantages.
Meanwhile, transporting the additional capacity from the new power station will require expansion of the national high voltage grid. The execution of these plans has already started.