The energy company RWE says it would let its lignite units run longer than previously planned if the federal government supports such an extension.
“If the government, in consultation with the network agency, is of the opinion that the term of the Neurath D and E blocks should be extended by another year until March 2025 in order to have a safety buffer, we will let the systems run longer,” said one RWE spokeswoman for the “Rheinische Post” (Tuesday). North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) expressed concerns about such considerations.
In order to reduce electricity generation from gas and thus save gas, the federal government allowed coal-fired power plants to be restarted or continued to operate as a result of the war in Ukraine last year.
Among other things, RWE is allowed to operate two power plant blocks (Neurath D and E), which were originally scheduled to be shut down by the end of 2022, until the end of March 2024. The federal government wanted to check whether the systems should continue to operate for another year, i.e. until the end of March 2025, or be transferred to a reserve.
“A quick decision would be helpful in providing clarity for employees and preparing the necessary technical measures,” said the RWE spokeswoman.
Prime Minister Wüst said such term extensions should not be a permanent solution. “The federal government’s faltering in energy policy must come to an end,” he demanded in the “Rheinische Post”. “It also deprives our economy of any planning security. This endangers jobs and investments in the transformation.” The federal government must ensure that there are new gas power plants for the period after electricity is generated from coal and that the necessary pipelines are built for the planned switch to hydrogen as an energy source. “The industrial state of North Rhine-Westphalia cannot afford any further delays,” warned Wüst.
The environmental organization Greenpeace pointed out the poor climate footprint of coal: “Leaving the dirtiest plants online would be fatal in terms of climate policy and it would also not be necessary in terms of energy policy,” Greenpeace energy expert Karsten Smid told the newspaper.
For the Rhenish Revier, politicians and the energy company RWE have agreed on a coal phase-out brought forward by eight years to 2030. However, this has not yet been decided for the East German areas.
The RWE share was temporarily 2.03 percent higher at 34.68 euros in XETRA trading.
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