In Germany, an energy company is dismantling a wind farm in order to expand an open-pit lignite coal mine, in but just one example of the government’s transition from a green energy philosophy emphasizing clean renewable energy and the environment, to a more pragmatic energy policy emphasizing energy security, as the county faces a looing energy crisis this winter.
The energy giant RWE has already begun the dismantling of the wind energy farm near the German coal mine Garzweiler. RWE notes that lignite, also known as brown coal, has been mined from that site for over 100 years.
RWE is looking for the additional fuel as it prepares to fire up three of its lignite-fired electricity plants this October, which had previously been placed on standby.
RWE said in a statement last month, “The three lignite units each have a capacity of 300 megawatts (MW). With their deployment, they contribute to strengthening the security of supply in Germany during the energy crisis and to saving natural gas in electricity generation.”
The site of the wind farm at Garzweiler had been the subject of a court case in Münster in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia earlier in the year. In March, the court ruled in favor of the energy giant, allowing it to dismantle the wind farm, and expand its coal mining activities.
Guido Steffen, a spokesperson for RWE, said of the coal mine expansion in a statement to the media, “We realize this comes across as paradoxical. But that is as matters stand.”
The ministry for economic and energy affairs of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia had issued a statement to media opposing the expansion of the mining operations, calling on RWE to abandon its plan to dismantle the wind farm.
It said, “In the current situation, all potential for the use of renewable energy should be exhausted as much as possible and existing turbines should be in operation for as long as possible.”
The Daily Financial Trends
