28 August 2023
RWE tears down operational wind turbines in grab for more coal
ERKELENZ, 28 AUGUST 2023 – As devastating wildfires continue to ravage Europe as a consequence of the climate emergency, German energy giant RWE has begun dismantling operational wind turbines near its sprawling Garzweiler open pit coal mine in North Rhine Westphalia with the intention of excavating a further 15 to 20 million tonnes of coal.
The demolitions are part of a deal brokered with Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck and Economics Minister for North Rhine Westphalia, Mona Neubaur, that is supposed to see RWE wind down its coal operations by 2030 [1]. RWE is Europe’s second largest CO2 emitter from coal power stations [2], and has razed over 100 villages in the Rhineland region to make way for its coal operations. Germany’s government is still aiming to exit coal by 2030.
“The current climate emergency requires urgent and concerted efforts to accelerate the deployment of every single wind turbine, solar panel and heat pump that we can muster. Anything that diverts from this critical endeavour, especially the dismantling of renewable energy sources to extract more fossil fuels, must be unequivocally prohibited,” said Fabian Hübner, senior campaigner in Germany at Beyond Fossil Fuels.
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Contacts:
Julia Pazos, Communications Officer, Beyond Fossil Fuels
julia.pazos@bff.earth, +1 310 994 9692
Fabian Hübner, Senior Campaigner, Beyond Fossil Fuels (German, English)
fabian.huebner@bff.earth, +49 178 633 7720
Notes:
- https://beyondfossilfuels.org/2022/10/04/rwe-concedes-2030-coal-exit-but-still-plans-to-destroy-villages-and-to-invest-in-fossil-fuel-projects/
- https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/6813154/
About:
Beyond Fossil Fuels is a collective civil society campaign committed to ensuring all of Europe’s electricity is generated from fossil-free, renewable energy by 2035. It expands and builds upon the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, and its goal of a coal-free Europe in power and heat by 2030 at the latest. www.beyondfossilfuels.org