Recently, the energy company RWE rather little joy with the mining of brown coal in the Rhineland district. Thus, the planned evacuation of Hambacher forest nationwide made headlines and was ultimately stopped by a court ruling for the time being. Also climate protectors and other coal activists criticize the group again and again violently and set partly on blockades as a form of protest. Now the company has received a surprising offer. Ironically, the green electricity provider Greenpeace Energy wants to buy in three stages, all existing lignite activities in the Rhineland. The aim of the action is clear: The power generation of coal should be terminated. In order to ensure that enough electricity is available, huge wind and solar power plants with a total output of 8.2 gigawatts are to be created where coal was mined and burnt in the past.
Every citizen should be able to participate in the project
The project was already calculated by Greenpeace Energy. Overall, the cost would amount to around seven billion euros. State subsidies are not needed. For financing instead, a so-called operator cooperative is planned, in which individuals, companies and public institutions can participate. In return, the partners should be able to generate an annual return of five to seven percent. Completion of the construction of the new facilities in the mid-2020s. Therefore, it is not planned to take over all RWE coal-fired power plants at once. Instead, a gradual conversion to sustainable power production is planned. As good as the plans sound, there is still a catch: Why should RWE have an interest in the deal?
The purchase price could clearly be set too low
Because the purchase offer of the green electricity provider amounts to only about 384 million euros. In addition, the energy company is also expected to commit itself to the costs of the necessary further education of the existing employees. Not a few experts, however, assume that RWE could earn significantly more money if the power plants and open-cast mines were simply operated further and then eventually shut down on their own. It is therefore still completely unclear whether it actually comes to a sale. The purchase offer also reminds a bit of a story from the year 2008. At that time, the Bonn-based company Solarworld wanted to take over the car manufacturer Opel. This never happened, but it was a good marketing story – even though Solarworld meanwhile slipped itself into bankruptcy.
