RWE to shut Aberthaw coal-fired plant in Wales by March 2020

• 5 years ago (2019-08-02)
• David Flin

Coal 296 Europe 1089

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RWE has announced that it will be closing its coal-fired 1.56GW Aberthaw power plant by March 2020, due to what it describes as “challenging market conditions.” The Aberthaw plant directly employs about 170 people, and RWE said talks with affected staff would begin immediately.

Roger Miesen, Chief Executive of RWE Generation, said: “This is a difficult time for everyone at Aberthaw power station. However, market conditions made this decision necessary.”

RWE said it would transfer Aberthaw power station’s existing capacity market agreements for 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 to third parties. A small portion will be transferred to other RWE plants.

The UK Government plans to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent compared with 1990 levels within the next three decades. RWE said that closing Aberthaw B would help it to reduce its CO2 emissions further. It said that it has cut CO2 emissions from power generation by 60 million tonnes since 2012, or by about a third.