RWE – Energy Transition https://energytransition.org The Global Energiewende Thu, 19 Jan 2023 13:11:30 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 Pyrrhic coal exit: Germany’s bad bargain with energy colossus RWE https://energytransition.org/2023/01/27811/ https://energytransition.org/2023/01/27811/#respond Tue, 17 Jan 2023 10:00:54 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27811 Heralded as a “courageous step for climate protection,” Germany’s government has in 2022 reached a compromise with RWE, Europe’s most polluting energy firm, to stop mining and burning its filthy brown coal by 2030 – a full eight years ahead of previous plans. But the deal, negotiated by several Green-Party led ministries, also authorizes RWE to keep several units at one of the world’s most toxic...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/01/27811/feed/ 0 RWE transformed: Germany’s biggest energy producer, and one of the world’s dirtiest, leaps into renewables https://energytransition.org/2023/01/rwe-transformed/ https://energytransition.org/2023/01/rwe-transformed/#respond Thu, 12 Jan 2023 10:00:09 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27797 Founded in 1898 in the industrial city of Essen, RWE has grown into one of the largest electricity producer in Germany and increasingly in the world. While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis has upset plans to immediately reduce RWE’s lignite burn, in mid-October the company finally embraced a total coal phase-out by 2030. The about face comes days after RWE announced a...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2023/01/rwe-transformed/feed/ 0 Colombian coal connections: German MEP Kathrin Henneberger works to phase it out on both sides of the Atlantic https://energytransition.org/2022/10/colombian-coal-connections-german-mep-kathrin-henneberger-works-to-phase-it-out-on-both-sides-of-the-atlantic/ https://energytransition.org/2022/10/colombian-coal-connections-german-mep-kathrin-henneberger-works-to-phase-it-out-on-both-sides-of-the-atlantic/#respond Thu, 27 Oct 2022 10:00:56 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=27511 After a year serving in Germany’s Bundestag, the climate-champion and Green MEP Kathrin Henneberger now finds herself struggling to defend the progress made by her predecessors. In response to Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz personally calling Colombia’s then president, Iván Duque to increase coal exports, despite well-known human rights violations associated with mining there...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2022/10/colombian-coal-connections-german-mep-kathrin-henneberger-works-to-phase-it-out-on-both-sides-of-the-atlantic/feed/ 0 To exit coal, Germany’s governing coalition digs a bigger hole https://energytransition.org/2020/07/to-exit-coal-germanys-governing-coalition-digs-a-bigger-hole/ https://energytransition.org/2020/07/to-exit-coal-germanys-governing-coalition-digs-a-bigger-hole/#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2020 13:00:59 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=22669 Just before summer break, Germany’s parliament finally committed to phasing out coal. But the conservative government’s plan doesn’t really call for meaningful shutdowns until 2023 as coal capacity slowly rolls offline through 2038. Instead, the law greenlights a large new coal plant while awarding billions of Euros in direct payments to the aggrieved coal operators and affected regional...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2020/07/to-exit-coal-germanys-governing-coalition-digs-a-bigger-hole/feed/ 2 RWE: Embracing renewables worldwide, while clinging to coal in Germany https://energytransition.org/2020/03/rwe-embracing-renewables-worldwide-while-clinging-to-coal-in-germany/ https://energytransition.org/2020/03/rwe-embracing-renewables-worldwide-while-clinging-to-coal-in-germany/#respond Wed, 11 Mar 2020 13:40:42 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=21867 After swallowing up many assets of former rival E.ON and daughter company Innogy in a reconfiguration of both the European and global energy sectors, the new RWE has pledged to become carbon neutral by 2040. Long Europe’s worst polluter and a steadfast opponent of the clean energy transition, it’s working hard to rebrand itself as a green innovator. However, as it plans to annually invest 1.

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2020/03/rwe-embracing-renewables-worldwide-while-clinging-to-coal-in-germany/feed/ 0 Fire in the holes: Transforming mined out lands into solar plants https://energytransition.org/2019/09/fire-in-the-holes-transforming-mined-out-lands-into-solar-plants/ https://energytransition.org/2019/09/fire-in-the-holes-transforming-mined-out-lands-into-solar-plants/#respond Thu, 26 Sep 2019 13:00:06 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=20851 While most post-mining plans, especially for surface mines, calls for pits to be redeveloped into lakes or farm land, an increasing body of research and evidence shows that these ripped-up landscapes can be successfully transformed into clean energy gold mines—whose solar PV resource potential, unlike coal’s, is infinite. L. Michael Buchsbaum reports The European Comission outlines transition of...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/09/fire-in-the-holes-transforming-mined-out-lands-into-solar-plants/feed/ 0 Deliberate de-liberalization: The case of the RWE-E.ON-Innogy merger https://energytransition.org/2019/09/20595/ https://energytransition.org/2019/09/20595/#respond Tue, 10 Sep 2019 14:00:38 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=20595 The complex merger deal will transform Europe’s worst polluter, RWE, into one of its largest renewable energy generators allowing it unprecedented behind-the-meter influence as partner E.ON dominates German grid distribution and consumer access. This poses a threat for competition and could upend Europe’s energy transition. RWE, historically Europe’s most polluting company, will grow even larger...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/09/20595/feed/ 0 Dirty fuel switch: Germany and Western Europe’s CO2 emissions fall as utilities ditch coal for cheap fossil gas https://energytransition.org/2019/08/dirty-fuel-switch-germany-and-western-europes-co2-emissions-fall-as-utilities-ditch-coal-for-cheap-fossil-gas/ https://energytransition.org/2019/08/dirty-fuel-switch-germany-and-western-europes-co2-emissions-fall-as-utilities-ditch-coal-for-cheap-fossil-gas/#respond Mon, 12 Aug 2019 13:00:38 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=20431 Approaching this summer’s midpoint, despite record-setting heat and continued drought in Europe, one positive development amidst the growing climate crisis is the sustained fall of coal’s generation market share throughout most of the continent. L. Michael Buchsbaum reports As coal burns decline, regional CO2 emissions fall (Photo courtesy Buchsbaum Media) Coal’s downward spiral First...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/08/dirty-fuel-switch-germany-and-western-europes-co2-emissions-fall-as-utilities-ditch-coal-for-cheap-fossil-gas/feed/ 0 German renewable energy cooperatives struggle as markets collapse https://energytransition.org/2019/06/german-renewable-energy-cooperatives-struggle-as-markets-collapse/ https://energytransition.org/2019/06/german-renewable-energy-cooperatives-struggle-as-markets-collapse/#comments Wed, 19 Jun 2019 10:00:09 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=19973 The accelerating downward pressure on onshore wind energy expansion in Germany is paralyzing the industry. Community-owned renewable producers have been hit hardest, and elbowed out of the few markets that remain. L. Michael Buchsbaum takes an in-depth look. Increasingly restrictive approval procedures are crushing local wind industry ( Public Domain) Organized by the World Wind Energy Association...

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]]> https://energytransition.org/2019/06/german-renewable-energy-cooperatives-struggle-as-markets-collapse/feed/ 1 Germany plans to convert coal plants into renewable energy storage sites https://energytransition.org/2019/05/coal-plants-into-renewable-energy-storage-sites/ https://energytransition.org/2019/05/coal-plants-into-renewable-energy-storage-sites/#comments Wed, 15 May 2019 11:30:07 +0000 https://energytransition.org/?p=19715 With Germany’s coal plants scheduled to close by 2038, operators now face some major decisions about how to restructure energy systems. One idea is to convert polluting power stations into batteries. L. Michael Buchsbaum takes a look. Vattenfall and start up SaltX are about to develop a pilot 10MW salt battery in the Reuter power plant in Berlin (Photo by Alexrk2; CC BY-SA 3.

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