this post was submitted on 31 Aug 2023
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German energy giant RWE has begun dismantling a wind farm to make way for a further expansion of an open-pit lignite coal mine in the western region of North Rhine Westphalia.

I thought renewables were cheaper than coal. How is this possible?

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[–] FluffyPotato@lemm.ee 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Didn't the green party in Germany have power in government right now? And weren't they the same guys who dismantled their nuclear plants?

I'm not very informed on German politics but if the answer to both was yes they should really rename their green party to the coal party.

[–] napoleonsdumbcousin@feddit.de 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

The original contract with the company RWE was made in the 1990s and included destroying whole towns for the coal mine, which was planned to be in use until 2038.

What we see now is a compromise between RWE, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the federal government to save the remaining towns and close the mine earlier (in 2030). The wind turbines are from 2001 and are nearing the end of their lifecycle.

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Why not introduce a coal tax of 1million per ton, no need to modify the contract at all. If they want to pay 1million per ton to mine the coal, RWE is more then welcome to do so. It is their legal right after all.

[–] lntl@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

the force is strong with you

[–] lntl@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

they're on fire!