Envision Charlottenburg as a city competing with Berlin. The Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg stands here. It embodies that rivalry. Built in 1900, this power plant wasn’t just about electricity. It symbolized Charlottenburg’s ambition.
The city of Charlottenburg commissioned the Städtisches Elektrizitätswerk. It translates to Municipal Electricity Works. The Charlottenburg city was wealthy. It wanted to assert its independence. A contemporary chronicler noted Berlin’s electricity cables. They were to light the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. Many private citizens wanted to connect.
The Charlottenburg city council saw an opportunity. They planned to expand street lighting. The gas works could barely keep up. Electric power promised more industrial growth. It also promised wealthy residents moving from Berlin.
Initially, the city planned to lease the plant for ten years. The chosen company would build a power station. It had to power 25,000 light bulbs. Supplying power to the tram was also a requirement. The contract included laying a cable network. A cable bridge over the Spree connected the network.
In 1899, Elektrizitäts-AG vormals W. Lahmeyer & Co. became the lessee. The city took over operations in 1910. Georg Klingenberg was only 28. He was tasked with the technical design and construction.
Like the later Charlottenburg Town Hall, the Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg showed the city’s confidence. It had an ornate facade in the style of “Markish Brick Gothic”. The initial equipment included four water tube boilers. There were also four tandem steam engines. Two generated 3,000 volts of three-phase current. The third produced 600 volts of direct current. The fourth served as a reserve.
The Siemenssteg went up together with the coal-fired Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg. It carried electrical lines over the Spree to Charlottenburg. Workers also used it as a pedestrian bridge. Cargo barges delivered coal via the Spree. A mobile crane unloaded them from 1911. A hanging railway transported the fuel to storage. The Spree provided the water for steam generation.
Soon, demand outstripped the Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg’s capacity. Expansion began. By April 1, 1902, 62,000 light bulbs or their equivalent were connected. The next year saw 93,000 bulbs. In 1904, it was 131,000. A new high-voltage three-phase machine provided 1,200 to 1,400 kilowatts for the trams.
In 1912, the plant started supplying district heating to Charlottenburg Town Hall. It was the first of its kind.
Charlottenburg became part of Greater Berlin in 1920. From 1922, the Berliner Städtische Elektrizitätswerke operated the power plant. They became Bewag a year later. In 1925, a new switchgear building and high-pressure steam turbines came online. Their total output was 72 MW. From 1926, the Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg supplied district heating. The recipients were the Town Hall, the Deutsche Oper, and the Schillertheater. The Stadtbad in Krumme Straße and seventy other buildings also received heating. The district heating network spanned 2.5 km. In 1928, an imposing 125 m chimney was completed. It was one of Europe’s tallest chimneys then.
After partial war damage and dismantling, the plant was rebuilt. In 1955, a red brick-clad steel skeleton structure replaced the old boiler house. A gas turbine plant was built west of it from 1972 to 1975. It is still running today.
The Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg got a flue gas desulfurization plant in 1989. In 1994, a flue gas denitrification plant was added. The coal-fired part of the power plant closed in 2001. This related to a reorganization of Berlin’s energy supply. The conversion to natural gas had been planned since the 1980s.
In 2006, the coal unloading facility was removed from the Spree bank. A riverside path was laid out. In September 2006, they demolished the 125 m high chimney. It had been a landmark for almost 80 years. It towered over the Charlottenburg Town Hall.
Today, a gas-fired part of the Heizkraftwerk Charlottenburg remains operational. It has three gas turbines. It is in a striking orange building. This peak load combined heat and power plant is operated by Vattenfall. It has an electrical output of 215 MW. Its thermal output is 295 MW.
There are plans to replace the existing gas turbines. It will be between 2024 and 2029. A combined heat and power plant will be installed. It will consist of a two-line gas turbine plant with a waste heat boiler. A plant for electrical hot water generation is also planned.