Energy: RWE will shut down three lignite plants at the end of the year

In addition to Block C of the Grundremmingen nuclear power plant, the RWE electricity company will also shut down three lignite plants in the Rhenish district at the turn of the year.

The company announced that the 300-megawatt units Neurath B, Niederaußem C and Weisweiler E would be shut down. “We are consequently continuing to implement the statutory phase-out of nuclear power and coal,” said RWE Power’s CEO, Frank Weigand. According to RWE, the four affected power plant blocks have generated over 400 billion kilowatt hours of electricity since they began operating. This corresponds to the electricity needs of Berlin over 90 years.

The shutdowns are carried out within the framework of the statutory schedule. The next shutdowns will follow in 2022: According to RWE, another 300 megawatt block will go offline on April 1 in Neurath. At the end of the year, the group will shut down the two 600-megawatt units at the same location as well as the briquetting in the Frechen factory. In addition, the company will shut down the Emsland nuclear power plant in Lingen.

According to its own information, RWE will shut down power plants with a total output of more than 7,000 megawatts in the period from 2020 to 2022. The company emphasized that this would have a significant impact on the workforce: by the end of 2023, RWE Power in the Rhineland will be shedding around 3,000 jobs in the entire process chain, from opencast mining to maintenance and administration to power generation. The workforce at the Gundremmingen nuclear power plant will decrease from around 600 at the beginning of 2017 to around 440 at the end of 2022. The remaining employees there would still be busy with post-operation and dismantling of the site until the 1930s.

By 2030, the company wants to invest 50 billion euros gross in the expansion of renewable energies, batteries, storage, hydrogen and flexible backup capacities.