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Proposed takeover of power plants and open pit mines
Berlin – Greenpeace Energy plans to gradually take over the lignite mines and power plants of the RWE Group in the Rheinische Revier from 2020 and to close them by 2025. In return, wind and solar PV systems will be used. a total capacity of about 8.2 gigawatts must be built on the former open pit mining areas.
Greenpeace Energy wants to implement this expansion as part of a citizen energy concept, in which citizens can participate privately or indirectly via energy companies. Municipal companies and private companies can also participate financially. Regional perspectives are priorities. "What we are proposing is a huge opportunity for the Rheinische Revier – and a big step forward in climate protection," said Sönke Tangermann, CEO of Greenpeace Energy. "Our concept is financially fair to all parties and designed to avoid layoffs."
An agreement with RWE and state support for structural change is key to success, says Tangermann. Greenpeace Energy has proposed to the federal government talks with the group and other stakeholders at the local level to implement this plan.
Specifically, Greenpeace Energy is proposing to decommission the Hambach open-pit mine and the six oldest and worst-performing plants in 2020, the Inden mine in 2022 and six other plants, the 2025 Garzweiler plant and the three plants. latest. "In total, the price rises to around 384 million euros," says Fabian Huneke, of the Energy Brainpool Energy Analysis Institute, who calculated the Cost-effectiveness of the project: This results in the profits that can be achieved with power plants in the electricity market because of the rising price of CO2 would not be profitable.
A number of new companies are being created for the upcoming tasks: a cooperation between operators implements the citizens energy concept and installs wind and photovoltaic systems with a power of 3.8 and 4.4 gigawatts , respectively, on all the relevant old open pit mines. Green power plants will produce more than 15 terawatt hours of electricity by 2030, about a quarter of what Rhine lignite currently provides. However, electricity production from lignite will gradually decline anyway and in the early 2030s it will fall below the level of newly developed citizen power plants in that country. According to Greenpeace Energy calculations, building the entire park of renewable energy plants would cost around seven billion euros. It would be by far the largest renewable energy project in Europe and, thanks to economies of scale, particularly favorable to construction. "So we can give up EEG compensation and expect yields between five and seven per cent, based on average market values," says Sönke Tangermann. "But above all, we can provide much more renewable electricity and climate protection than would otherwise be possible on the basis of the EEG."
The sites for the solar and wind parks are rented by the cooperative of operators of a new municipal land division in which all the landowners are organized. Rental income represents, in the last phase of development, 45 million euros per year. In addition, the land division is responsible for renaturalization and engages all employees leaving the lignite division of RWE through an investment company. These can, for example, work on the renaturation of open surfaces and the decommissioning of power stations. Others are further qualified for new jobs in renewable energy and other industries. For its tasks, the employment agency receives funds from a public structural fund, as proposed by the Coal Commission, to finance the structural change in the mining regions for lignite. To what extent RWE must also contribute financially to the measures, the state and the group negotiate separately.
"Thanks to the citizen's approach and the wide involvement of regional actors, the concept meets essential criteria to obtain the highest added value and the highest possible impact on employment. the Rheinische Revier, "says Prof. Dr. med. Bernd Hirschl of the Institute for Economic Research and Economics (IÖW), an authority on socio-economic issues. "The project can be a first step in transforming this traditional energy region into a model energy transition region."
The implementation of Greenpeace's energy plan would result in 441 million tonnes of CO2 emissions less than RWE's forecasts, as calculated by the Ökologische-Soziale Marktwirtschaft (FÖS) Forum on behalf of Greenpeace Energy. This would save about 60 billion euros on social costs resulting from climate damage. By 2020, emissions will decrease by about 13 million tonnes of CO2. By the year 2030, 338 million tons of CO2 will be saved. "Greenpeace's energy plan therefore directly pays for the 2020 and 2030 climate goals," says FÖS expert Florian Zerzawy.
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