It is the largest lignite coal power plant in operation in Germany, with total net capacity of 2,220 MW.

In order to reach the limit values of the new environmental protection regulations, in 1986 the work for a flue-gas desulphurization plant began.

During the flue gas purification, gypsum from the lime-water mixture, which is processed beside the power station in Auenheim by the company Pro mineral, is produced.

With the construction of the new BoA block (Braunkohlekraftwerk mit optimierter Anlagentechnik), German for lignite power station with optimised system technology, a new chapter at the power station began; between 1997 and 2002 it was the most modern brown coal power station block of the world with a gross production of 1,012 megawatts (950 MW net) with a far higher efficiency (43%) than most other plants (as low as 31%).

[4] The new unit's cooling tower was also the tallest in the world at 200 meters (656 feet)[5] when it was built, but is now the third-tallest, after those at the Pingshan Power Station in China and the Kalisindh Thermal Power Station in India.

Thanks to these developments, Niederaussem became one of the largest and most modern coal-fired power stations in the world.

Since 21 July 2006, RWE has spent €40 million building a fluidized bed drying unit with waste heat technology as a pilot project for the drying process of the raw brown coal.

Later, the flames seized nearly the entire area of the "old power station", and a large, black smoke cloud ascended, which spread many kilometers to the north-west.