Uniper to work with GE to decarbonise European gas plants

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German utility Uniper <UN01.DE> will work out a plan to decarbonise its European gas-fired power plants by early 2021 in a cooperation with General Electric <GE.N>, it said on Tuesday.

"In a few years, Uniper's European fleet will consist mainly of climate-friendly gas-fired power plants and CO2-free hydropower," Uniper Chief Executive Andreas Schierenbeck said in a statement.

The agreement, which was signed last month, follows a cooperation deal with Siemens <SIEGn.DE> to look at using hydrogen at Uniper's gas-fired power plants and producing the carbon-free gas with power from its wind turbines.

Across Europe, Uniper, which is majority-owned by Finland's Fortum <FORTUM.HE>, operates gas-fired power plants of around 9 gigawatts, which is more than a quarter of its total generation capacity.

As part of its efforts to cut its emissions, Uniper aims to close three German hard coal-fired power plants, half its European coal-fired capacity, over the next five years.

(Reporting by Christoph Steitz)