Germany's RWE agrees to 2030 coal phase-out

German energy major RWE AG (ETR:RWE) on Tuesday agreed with the federal government to end lignite-based electricity generation eight years early in 2030, without any additional compensation for the company.

The government will also have time until 2026 to decide whether the last lignite-fired power plants totalling 3.6 GW will be placed on security standby until the end of 2033 in order to ensure the security of supply.

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The company pointed out that the coal phase-out will lead to accelerated stuff reductions towards the end of the decade and committed to implementing the job cuts in a socially responsible way.

Meanwhile, RWE plans to invest over EUR 50 billion (USD 49.6bn) gross in the expansion of its global green core business. This includes EUR 15 billion set aside for spending at home in Germany.

In North Rhine-Westphalia in particular, the company intends to further increase its expansion target of 1 GW of renewables and to build 3 GW of gas-fired power plants that could run on hydrogen as well.

The company also reaffirmed that because of the current energy crisis in Europe, the decommissioning of the Neurath D and E power plant units totalling 1,200 MW will be deferred until March 31, 2024. In accordance with the German Coal Phaseout Act, they were originally scheduled to shut down at the end of 2022.

(EUR 1 = USD 0.991)