Lignite-Activities: What you need to know before Vattenfall decision – Berliner Zeitung

• Vattenfall drives the sale of its German lignite activities ahead.
• On Monday, a decision will be made, probably gets the tscheschische energy group EPH the contract.
• about 8,000 Jos depend directly on the four active mines and several large power stations.

Berlin –

For some time, the Swedish energy group Vattenfall drives the sale of its German lignite activities in Brandenburg and Saxony ahead. Today the decision will be made. Probably a Czech investor comes to the train. Can ever stop even the decline of lignite? An overview.

How important is the Vattenfall lignite?

The Swedish group is after the Essen RWE’s second largest lignite-Verstromer in Germany. In the structurally weak Lausitz the climate-damaging, landscape-eating brown coal is the main industry.

It’s about four active surface mines and several large power plants, which are among the largest climate killers in Europe. Around 8,000 jobs depend directly on it.

RWE Last year, around a quarter of domestic electricity production accounted for these fuels promotes and burns his lignite in the Rhenish mining area west of Cologne: Despite their serious disadvantages lignite takes the German electricity system play an important role.. In addition, there is the Central German area in the Halle / Leipzig and the small Helmstedter area.

Who will get the nod for the Vattenfall lignite?

Probably the Czech energy group EPH. He heard the lignite conveyor Mibrag from Saxony-Anhalt. Unlike Germany, one is in the Czech Republic believes that the brown coal still has a great future. EPH seems to speculate that in Germany the market power prices in the medium to rise again -. And that is when the still active nuclear power plants off the grid

Then could be coal power again properly earn money, which currently is not the case. The East German state governments could live with a sale to EPH. Environmentalists speculate that the Czechs also have a second interest: In their country the expansion of lignite production process is limited. In order to secure supplies for the Czech power plants, also brown coal from Germany could get export.

Can Vattenfall expect a good price?

No. At the start of the sales process has been talk with a turnover of up to four billion euros. Indeed Vattenfall expected to generate much less. Interest in the division remained severely limited. Only a handful of bidders submitted offers. Mostly they wanted to even see money that they take on lignite.

The electricity from lignite is not a money-making machine more. Due to the green energy boom there is substantial overcapacity, the wholesale prices are down. Since the World Summit on Climate Change from Paris late last year lignite in this country is considered obsolete. Federal Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks (SPD) advocates a socially acceptable phasing in period of 20 to 25 years. The union IG BCE will hold until the middle of the millennium at the lignite.

Why Vattenfall will ever separate from the lignite?

The Group fully owned by the Swedish State. And now feels obliged to protect the climate. Only Vattenfall separated from its lignite activities in Poland. 2014, the company then announced that it would also disconnect from the Lausitz Lignite, last year, the sales process was formally launched.

Vattenfall was launched hopeful turn of the millennium in Germany, the municipal utilities purchased next to the Lausitz Lignite in Berlin and Hamburg and grew with its coal and nuclear power plants as one of the four major power companies in Germany. In future, all a few numbers be smaller: The company wants this country in future score with clean electricity and energy services to its customers

.