RWE

Cologne – November 07, 2026 -- North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) won 2.1 gigawatts of capacity, or 41 percent of the total awarded, in Germany's first tender for new gas-fired power plants. Even so, two leading energy economists question whether the state can end lignite-fired power in the Rhenish mining area in 2030 without risking supply security and higher prices.

Bundesnetzagentur awards NRW 2.1 GW, but plants arrive a year after the coal exit

The federal network regulator announced the results this week. The plants are due on the grid by 2031 at the latest, one year after the agreed lignite phase-out. Awards from a second bidding round are expected in the new year.

Halle – November 03, 2026 -- Saale Energie GmbH, the Mibrag subsidiary that operates the Schkopau lignite power plant, won no award in Germany's first tender round for new gas-fired plants, leaving Saxony-Anhalt without a share of the new backup capacity for periods of low wind and solar output.

Saale Energie keeps hopes alive for a later round

Company spokesman Sebastian Exner confirmed the result to the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. He noted that the law provides for at least one further tender, so a final assessment of the Schkopau site is not yet possible.

The Schkopau lignite plant is due to close by 2034 at the latest under the coal phase-out. A new gas-fired plant is planned at the site.

Berlin – November 03, 2026 -- RWE and LEAG secured nine of the eleven power plants awarded in the first tender under Germany's Electricity Supply Security Act (Strom-VKG), and no battery storage project won an award, according to Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH).

Gas plants take every award as battery storage is shut out

Only fossil gas plants received awards in the first round. DUH attributes this to special criteria on operating life and manufacturing in the first two tender rounds, which it says effectively exclude battery storage. Not a single battery storage bidder succeeded.

RWE wins three plants, LEAG six, a municipal utility one

Of the eleven awarded plants, three belong to RWE and six to LEAG. Only one is owned by a municipal company. DUH describes this as a strong concentration of market power among large fossil-fuel groups.

Berlin – November 02, 2026 -- Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) will examine legal action if RWE concludes a planned LNG supply contract with ADNOC that would include fracking gas from Argentina's Vaca Muerta formation.

RWE and ADNOC have signed a letter of intent covering LNG from ADNOC's global portfolio

Under the signed letter of intent, RWE would buy LNG from ADNOC's worldwide portfolio. DUH says that portfolio includes Argentine shale gas. ADNOC's investment arm XRG holds stakes in both the planned Argentina LNG export terminal and gas production in Vaca Muerta, one of the world's largest shale gas deposits.