RWE to Spend €5 Billion on Renewables

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Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland) -- German energy giant RWE AG (OTC:RWEOY) (Essen, Germany) is planning to spend €5 billion ($6.4 billion) on renewable energy projects in Europe within the next four years.

The financial pledge was made Fritz Vahrenholt, chief executive officer of RWE Innogy, the company's renewable energy business. The company is planning to focus €1 billion ($1.27 billion) of its renewable cash on offshore windfarms in the German sector of the North Sea, with the rest being spread between windfarms and biomass plants in Poland and the U.K. By 2015, RWE Innogy wants to triple its Polish windfarm portfolio to 300-megawatts (MW).

RWE is one of three companies that are focusing heavily on the German North Sea and in August it they teamed up to build a massive maintenance and operations base for their combined offshore windfarms at the southern port on the island of Heligoland, 40 kilometers off the German coast. Three service and operating stations will be constructed on a site of 10,000 square meters to serve three windfarms with a combined generating capacity of 883 MW. For additional information, see August 8, 2011, article - German Energy Giants Prepare For North Sea Wind.

RWE's renewable investment plans arrives a month after its main rival, E.ON AG (OTC:EONGY) (Dusseldorf, Germany), pledged to spend €7 billion ($9.1 billion) on renewable energy projects in the coming years. The company has committed to building the €880 million ($1.15 billion) Humber Gateway offshore windfarm off the east Yorkshire coast in England. Sporting 73 turbines it will generate up to 219 MW of electricity, enough for approximately 170,000 homes. For additional information, see December 20, 2011, article - E.ON Commits to €880 million Humber Gateway Windfarm.

Both Germany and RWE have accelerated their investment plans in renewable energy projects as they are among the biggest losers following the government's decision last May to abandon nuclear power and schedule a rapid shutdown of the country's 17 nuclear reactors. For additional information, see May 30, 2011, article - Germany Votes to Dump Nuclear Power.

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