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Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · Germany · 2019–2023

Germany agreed €2.6bn and €1.75bn coal exit payments to RWE and LEAG

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 not measured See the gaps

Germany agreed to pay lignite operators RWE and LEAG early-closure compensation for ending coal power generation, and the European Commission approved the RWE payment in December 2023. A 2019 research note from the German Federal Parliament said the state was not legally obliged to make the payments.

What?
Germany agreed €2.6 billion for RWE and €1.75 billion for LEAG to close lignite plants early; the European Commission approved the RWE payment. Enerdata
Where?
Germany
When?
European Commission approval of the RWE payment on 13 December 2023 Enerdata
Who?
Gained
  • RWE — €2.6 billion early-closure compensation Enerdata
  • LEAG — €1.75 billion early-closure compensation Enerdata
Lost
  • German state budget — funds the payments as German state support Enerdata
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Payments under agreements with the German state, approved by the European Commission. Enerdata
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Germany agreed to pay RWE €2.6 billion and LEAG €1.75 billion as early-closure compensation for lignite plants, according to Enerdata.

The European Commission approved the RWE payment on 13 December 2023, Enerdata reported.

A research service of the German Federal Parliament wrote in 2019 that the state had no legal obligation to make such payments.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say how much of the agreed compensation had been paid by the end of the review.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give the date on which the compensation agreement itself was signed.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

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