Philippsburg nuclear power plant
Philippsburg nuclear power plant is a nuclear site in Germany with 2 units on record. None is currently operating.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Retired | BWR | BWR-69 | 926 | 1980 |
| Unit 2 | Retired | PWR | - | 1,468 | 1985 |
Unit by unit
Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.
Philippsburg nuclear power plant 1 Retired
| Reactor type | Boiling water reactor (BWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | BWR-69 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 926MW |
| Net capacity | 890MW |
| Thermal output | 2,575MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy |
| Owner | EnBW Kraftwerke AG100% |
| Operator | EnBW Kernkraft |
| Construction start | 1 Oct 1970 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 9 Mar 1979 |
| Grid connection | 5 May 1979 |
| Commercial operation | 26 Mar 1980 |
| Permanent shutdown | 6 Aug 2011 |
Philippsburg nuclear power plant 2 Retired
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | not disclosed |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,468MW |
| Net capacity | 1,402MW |
| Thermal output | 3,950MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | EnBW Kernkraft GmbH100% |
| Operator | EnBW Kernkraft |
| Construction start | 7 Jul 1977 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 13 Dec 1984 |
| Grid connection | 17 Dec 1984 |
| Commercial operation | 18 Apr 1985 |
| Permanent shutdown | 31 Dec 2019 |
Philippsburg nuclear power plant in context
The 2 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 7.4 to 8.6 years (median 8.0) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1980s is 7.3 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Cattenom nuclear power plant (162 km), Leibstadt nuclear power plant (185 km) and Beznau nuclear power plant (190 km).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | 1970 | 1979 | 8.6 | 5.4 (1970s) |
| Unit 2 | 1977 | 1984 | 7.4 | 7.3 (1980s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cattenom nuclear power plant | France | 162 km | 5.4 |
| Leibstadt nuclear power plant | Switzerland | 185 km | 1.3 |
| Beznau nuclear power plant | Switzerland | 190 km | 0.8 |
How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.
| Location | Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 49.2529, 8.4364 |
| Elevation | about 105 mabove sea level |
| Setting | About 370 km from the sea |
| Region | Western Europe |
| Units by status | Retired: 2 |
Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.
| Owners | EnBW Kraftwerke AG EnBW Kernkraft GmbH |
|---|---|
| Operators | EnBW Kernkraft |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data