RWE has set a target to phase-out coal in 2030, eight years earlier than previously planned.
The company has stated that the decision, made in line with the German government’s climate targets, will mean 280 million tonnes of carbon is not emitted that would have been otherwise.
RWE will also invest €50 billion during the next eight years to expand the green side of its business, with €15 billion to be specifically spent on Germany.
It has set an expansion target of 1GW of renewables in the North Rhine-Westphalia region – and is also considering hydrogen gas-fired power plants that would be 3GW in capacity.
To align with the German government’s response to the energy crisis, however, RWE will delay the decommissioning of two of its power plants until March 2024 – to maintain energy supply to the country.
Markus Krebber, CEO of RWE AG, said: “In the current crisis, we are contributing to security of supply in Germany by temporarily increasing the use of our lignite-fired power plants and are thus also helping to displace gas from electricity generation.
“At the same time, we are investing billions of euros to accelerate the energy transition and are ready to phase out lignite by 2030. It was important to RWE that the German government also assured us that it would adapt the legal regulations so that no one is left out in the cold.”
