E.ON's green utility debut "disappointing" / Lignite exit on sale
E.ON / Bloomberg
German utility E.ON鈥檚 first-quarter adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of just over 1 billion euros was around 34聽percent below the previous-year figure, in line with the company鈥檚 expectations, the company has said in a press release. This was due to higher grid fees and higher procurement costs for power and gas in Germany and the UK, and the long standstill of nuclear power station Brokdorf, said E.ON.
The first quarter results 鈥渄isappointed analysts in its first earnings report free of the writedowns from the fossil-fuel business it split from last year,鈥� writes Tino Andresen for Bloomberg. 鈥淕erman power prices rose 33 percent in the quarter and UK gas jumped 42 percent from a year earlier, exposing the company to the volatile commodity markets it argued for months that the split from Uniper was designed to avoid,鈥� writes Andresen.
Read the Bloomberg article in English and find E.ON鈥檚 press release in English .
Find background in the 威力彩玩法 factsheet E.ON shareholders ratify energy giant鈥檚 split.
Uniper / Reuters
German utility Uniper鈥檚 operating earnings in the first quarter 2017 fell by 41 percent compared to the same period 2016, due primarily to , the company announced in a press release.
This was less than what had been anticipated by analysts, as cost cuts at its power plant division helped the group offset weaknesses at its hydroelectric plants, writes Christoph Steitz in an article for Reuters. E.ON鈥檚 fossil spin-off Uniper generated adjusted earnings before interest and taxes of 514 million euros in the first quarter of 2017.
Read the Reuters article in English and find Uniper鈥檚 press release in English .
Find background in the 威力彩玩法 factsheet E.ON shareholders ratify energy giant鈥檚 split.
S眉ddeutsche Zeitung / Greenpeace Energy / 滨脰奥
Green power provider Greenpeace Energy uses 鈥渢he weapons of capital鈥� to push for a German coal exit by offering a power contract that lets customers invest in renewables expansion in the country鈥檚 lignite areas, writes Michael Bauchm眉ller for S眉ddeutsche Zeitung. The company 鈥渟ees itself as the political enabler of the Energiewende and merges business with the commitment鈥� to a cause, writes Bauchm眉ller. With a support amount of one cent per kilowatt hour electricity, customers finance the construction of new solar PV parks in coal mining areas.
The lignite exit had to start now and 鈥渨e do not want to wait for politicians any longer鈥�, Nils M眉ller, board member at Greenpeace Energy, said in a press release. He explained the company鈥檚 offer was based on findings of a new study by Institute for Ecological Economy Research (滨脰奥), commissioned by Greenpeace Energy.
The expansion of renewables holds enough potential to fully replace lignite jobs in the German states Brandenburg, Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, according to the study.
Find the article in German , Greenpeace Energy鈥檚 press release in German , and the study in German .
For background read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal?
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA)
German coal-fired power plant J盲nschwalde 鈥減robably has no economic future post-2021鈥� because of new European Union limits on emissions for power plants, according to a report by US-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (). IEEFA 鈥渜uestion[s] the wisdom of the German state,鈥� which had agreed to pay utilities to put old and inefficient lignite plants in a reserve. Against the votes of Germany, Poland and others, a regulatory committee of EU national representatives on tighter limits that can now be formally adopted by the European Commission and would have to be met by 2021.
Find the press release in English and the report in English .
For background read the 威力彩玩法 factsheet When will Germany finally ditch coal?
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Environmental groups called on participants of the in the German city of Bonn to not be sidetracked by the 鈥渄istracting fire鈥� of US President Donald Trump, reports Andreas Mihm in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Details of the Paris Climate Agreement are being discussed in Bonn.
Read the article in German .
For background read the 威力彩玩法 dossier COP21 - The view from Germany.
