Dutch Court Denies RWE and Uniper Compensation for Closure of Coal-Fired Plants

The Dutch state does not have to compensate German energy suppliers RWE and Uniper for the decision to close coal-fired energy plants in the Netherlands by 2030, a Dutch court ruled on Wednesday.

RWE owns two of the current four coal-fired energy plants in the Netherlands, and Uniper one.

Both filed lawsuits last year to seek compensation for the Dutch government’s 2018 decision to ban the use of coal in electricity generation this decade, shutting all coal-fired plants by 2030.

But the court said the government had acted in good faith, as it sought to reduce CO2 emissions in the Netherlands in line with European climate goals.

RWE and Uniper could have expected the announcement given the relatively high levels of CO2 emitted by the plants, the court said, and were also given time to adjust to the plans and seek ways to transform their plants to more sustainable sources of energy.

(Reporting by Bart Meijer; editing by Mark Potter)

Photograph: Steam and exhaust rise from the RWE Weisweiler coal-fired power station on Feb. 11, 2021 near Inden, Germany. Photo credit: Lukas Schulze/Getty Images.