In the current energy crisis, ensuring security of supply is vital. At the same time, protecting the climate remains one of the key challenges of our time. RWE supports both. The company invests billions of euros into accelerating the energy transition and is bringing the exit from lignite forward from 2038 to 2030. At the same time, RWE contributes to security of supply in Germany during the crisis by temporarily ramping up utilisation of its lignite-fired power plants and continuing to operate power plant units that had been earmarked for earlier decommissioning. In this way, natural gas, which has become a scarce commodity since Russia started to wage war against Ukraine, is being pushed out of electricity generation. The temporary ramping up of lignite utilisation can only succeed if opencast mining progresses as planned.

By bringing the exit from coal forward to 2030, the amount of coal that can be mined from Garzweiler will be approximately halved, meaning that the third relocation phase for the villages of Keyenberg, Kuckum, Oberwestrich, Unterwestrich and Berverath, which are still partially inhabited, including the three farmsteads of Holzweiler (Eggeratherhof, Roitzerhof, Weyerhof) will not need to go ahead. However, the coal under the former settlement of Lützerath, which is located close to the current edge of the Garzweiler Mine, will soon be needed to make optimal use of the lignite fleet during the energy crisis and sufficient earth must be excavated for recultivating areas previously used for opencast mining. All necessary licences and court orders to this end have been granted. All original inhabitants left the village quite some time ago.

RWE has of course checked whether the appropriation of Lützerath is absolutely necessary. In the course of this website you will find a link to documents and an evaluation by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Action and Energy of The State of North Rhine-Westphalia on this matter. These documents are in German only.

The timely appropriation of the former settlement of Lützerath is necessary to ensure security of energy supply in the current energy crisis. The former settlement is located very close to the current edge of the Garzweiler Mine. The excavated earth is also required for recultivation. Gravel, sand, and loess are needed by RWE to fulfil the company’s duty to design an attractive and sustainable landscape after mining ends in the region.

The mining engineers and opencast mining planners at RWE Power know exactly where the lignite in the area is located in the ground. They, as well as third-party experts, have come to the same conclusion in their work: There is no alternative to using the coal in the Lützerath region to ensure a secure supply of power plants with coal as well as security of electricity supply and save natural gas in the process. All necessary licences have been granted. Their legality has been conclusively confirmed by the courts. All of the almost 100 original inhabitants have been relocated.

Lützerath is situated in the middle of the approved mining area as well as very close to the current edge of the opencast mine. Without Lützerath the volume of annually mined coal would be significantly reduced and the secure supply of power plants with lignite would be at risk. And a high capacity utilisation of the power plants is needed during the current energy crisis. Progressing the opencast mine without utilising the ground under Lützerath would also lead to a significant reduction in excavated earth. Large volumes of gravel and sand that are required for shaping the landscape after the mines will be exhausted would be missing.

Lützerath on a peninsula in the middle of a two-pronged opencast mine. Stable slopes require large areas; the two parts of the opencast mine would be too narrow to mine the lignite, which is located up to 200 metres deep in the ground.

In conclusion, a report by Mining Technology Consulting GmbH states: “We conclude that, regardless of the chosen or possible mining path, leaving the former village of Lützerath in situ would not leave a viable option for developing the opencast mine. Neither the continuous supply of the consumers with coal in the required quality and quantity nor the complete reshaping of the landscape after mining is complete, nor an economically viable operation would be possible if the area was divided in such a way.”

Where relocation of people becomes necessary, it is preceded by an intensive dialogue process lasting several decades, with comprehensive planning measures and approval procedures. The concept of joint relocation has been tried and tested. The main objective in this context is to preserve the village community. This aim is to be achieved by relocating as many inhabitants of the old village jointly to a new location that has been determined in collaboration with them as swiftly as possible.

The mining area that the former settlement of Lützerath is located in was approved in 1995. Originally, the small village had just under 100 inhabitants who have all been relocated – most of them moved around 8 kilometres away to Neu-Immenrath. Their relocation was completed in April 2017. Large parts of the old village have already been demolished. Currently, only people who are illegally occupying the buildings and sites belonging to RWE Power remain in the former settlement of Lützerath.

Lignite from the Rhenish mining district provides thousands of jobs and training opportunities at RWE as well as at suppliers and service providers. However, the decisive factor for utilising lignite from the Lützerath area is its necessity for ensuring security of energy supply. This has been confirmed over and over again in public-law approval procedures as well as landmark decisions by the State Government of North Rhine-Westphalia. At the same time, the appropriation of the former settlement of Lützerath for mining purposes is a consequence of the current energy crisis; it ensures that sufficient volumes of lignite are mined to secure the energy supply and to save scarce natural gas.

RWE is a global leader in the renewables sector and will be climate neutral by 2040. The company is planning to have phased out coal as early as 2030. This means that the operating time of coal-fired power plants as previously stipulated by law is being halved. It is possible to bring the exit from coal forward by this much, although it will be necessary to significantly accelerate the expansion of renewables by this date and to build hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants that generate electricity when there is no wind or sunshine. RWE will participate in building these substitute power plants and expanding renewables. This is also described in an agreement between the Federal and State Governments and RWE from October 2022, in which the early exit from coal in 2030 is set out. By now, an amendment to the Coal Phase-out Act concerning the early exit from coal has been passed by both chambers of the German parliament.

RWE is already a global leader in the renewables sector. The company's Growing Green strategy is geared towards massively forging ahead with the company's green growth internationally. To this end, RWE is investing more than 50 billion euros gross globally by 2030. Approximately 15 billion euros are to be invested in Germany, 4 billion euros in North Rhine-Westphalia alone, in offshore and onshore wind, solar, batteries, flexible backup capacities and hydrogen projects.

Until these sources become able to provide 100 per cent of the electricity supply in Germany, conventional fuels such as lignite will be needed – to a diminishing degree – to bridge the gap. In order to end electricity generation from coal by 2030, the energy transition must have progressed far enough to ensure a continuous security of supply for Germany by that date. This requires a massive expansion of onshore and offshore wind, solar plants, storage systems as well as additional capacity reserves from state-of-the art, hydrogen-ready gas-fired power plants. RWE will help to massively forge ahead with the expansion of innovative technologies.

No, this is wrong. The Emissions Trading System (ETS) for carbon of the European Union caps emissions. Industry and the energy sector are part of this EU-wide system.

If one company produces fewer emissions, other companies elsewhere can produce more emissions. The capped total volume of emissions always remains unchanged.

All necessary licences and permissions have been granted. Their legality has been conclusively confirmed by the courts. All ownership issues have been cleared up. Therefore, it is regrettable that police protection is required to carry out preparations for appropriating the area for mining purposes.

RWE understands peaceful protesters. However, illegal occupation of buildings, damage to property and other criminal acts are not acceptable. RWE is appealing to potential participants in legal protests not to take part in unlawful disruptive acts, and not to put their own health and lives at risk, for example by illegally entering company sites.

RWE bases its arguments on independent reports (in German only) as commissioned by the State Government, among other expert opinions. These have clearly confirmed that it is not possible to preserve the former settlement of Lützerath for various reasons.

As the regional agency for energy and climate protection NRW.Energy4Climate and energy consultants BET state in their report: “The exit from coal by 2030 without triggering the third relocation phase (the villages of Keyenberg, Kuckum, Ober- und Unterwestrich and Berverath, the author) seems feasible, but not without the appropriation of Lützerath. (…) In conclusion, it shows that in all scenarios the cumulated demand exceeds mineable lignite deposits without utilising the ground beneath Lützerath (…), that in particular the annual demand for the years 2023 to 2026 exceeds the maximal possible mining volumes estimated by opencast mining experts without appropriating Lützerath, in parts significantly, and that the demand for lignite will fall considerably from 2026 (...) due to the expansion of renewables and falling gas prices.”

RWE cannot make general assessments of differing positions. Some expert reports known to the company that have reached different conclusions were based on inaccurate assumptions and the complexities of progressing an opencast mine and subsequent recultivation were frequently not considered.

The lignite deposits are covered by enormous layers of gravel and sand before these are moved by the large excavators. These layers are also known as overburden. However, gravel and sand are not waste material, they are of vital importance. It is used for shaping the landscape after the mines are exhausted. They must be available in sufficient quantities – as material for shaping slopes and lake shores, for example. Just as important is loess. This top layer of soil ensures fertile ground, in landscapes that have developed naturally as well as on recultivated land.