RWE will close three lignite plants at the end of the year
In addition to Building C of the Grundremmingen nuclear power plant, the electricity company RWE will also close three lignite plants in the Rhenish region early in the year. The group announced Thursday that the 300-megawatt Neurath B, Niederaußem C and Weisweiler E units will be shutting down. “We are constantly implementing the legal phase-out of nuclear power and coal,” said Frank Wigan, CEO of RWE Power. According to RWE, the affected four power plant blocks have produced more than 400 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity since they began operating. This corresponds to the electricity needs of Berlin for more than 90 years.
In addition to Building C of the Grundremmingen nuclear power plant, the electricity company RWE will also close three lignite plants in the Rhenish region early in the year. The group announced Thursday that the 300-megawatt Neurath B, Niederaußem C and Weisweiler E units will be shutting down. “We are constantly implementing the legal phase-out of nuclear power and coal,” said Frank Wigan, CEO of RWE Power. According to RWE, the affected four power plant blocks have produced more than 400 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity since they began operating. This corresponds to the electricity needs of Berlin for more than 90 years.
Closings take place within the statutory schedule. The following shutdowns will follow in 2022: According to RWE, another 300MW block will be decommissioned on April 1 at Neurath. At the end of the year, the group will shut down the two 600 MW units at the same site as well as molding at the Freshion plant. In addition, the company will close the Emsland nuclear power plant in Lingen.
According to its own information, RWE will close power plants with a total production of more than 7,000 MW in the period from 2020 to 2022. The company emphasized that this will have a significant impact on the workforce: by the end of 2023, RWE Power in Rhineland will eliminate about 3,000 jobs in The entire chain of operations, from opencast mining to maintenance and management to power generation. The workforce at the Gundremmingen nuclear power plant will drop from about 600 at the beginning of 2017 to about 440 at the end of 2022. The staff remaining there will remain busy after the operation and dismantling of the site until the 2030s.
By 2030, the company wants to invest a total of 50 billion euros in expanding renewable energies, batteries, storage, hydrogen and flexible backup capabilities.