RWE to invest €50 bn in climate-neutral energy system

RWE energy business

RWE, as part of its Growing Green strategy, has expanded its green portfolio by 1.3 gigawatts (GW) in the first nine months of 2022.

Projects currently under construction and acquisitions already announced will expand the portfolio by a further 9.4 GW. That includes the purchase of Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses, a developer in the area of renewable energy in the US. With this acquisition, RWE is taking over renewables facilities with a capacity of about 3 GW. The transaction will make RWE the number 4 renewables company in the US.

RWE will fully exit from coal by as early as 2030. This creates the basis for the company to now be able to adjust its emission reduction plan to the 1.5-degree path. RWE is temporarily making an additional 2.1 GW of lignite capacity available to bolster security of supply.

RWE has brought three plants from lignite reserve back online and will defer the decommissioning of two further units, which had originally been planned for the end of this year; furthermore the Emsland nuclear power station will produce additional electricity beyond the end of this year until mid-April 2023.

RWE confirms the outlook for the current fiscal year published in July 2022.

Offshore Wind: Adjusted EBITDA in the Offshore Wind segment in the first nine months of 2022 was €859 million, compared to €656 million for the prior-year period. This increase in earnings was due to the commissioning of new capacities as well as higher wind levels compared to the previous year.

Onshore Wind/Solar: In the first three quarters of 2022, adjusted EBITDA in the Onshore Wind/Solar segment reached €649 million. Additional capacity and more favourable wind conditions had a positive impact. The prior-year result of €36 million took a substantial hit of approximately €400 million as a result of the extreme weather in Texas.

Hydro/Biomass/Gas: Adjusted EBITDA in the Hydro/Biomass/Gas segment increased considerably to €1,164 million (previous year: €430 million). This was mainly the result of higher earnings from short-term asset optimisation and higher international generation margins.

“We are fast-tracking the expansion of renewables and are rigorously implementing our Growing Green strategy. RWE is ready to continue investing in a climate-neutral energy system – more than €50 billion by 2030,” Michael Muller, CFO of RWE, said.