FRANKFURT, Feb 4 (Reuters) - RWE has filed a lawsuit to seek compensation from the Dutch government for the planned shutdown of a coal-fired power plant in the Netherlands as part of the country’s phase-out of the fuel.
RWE, Germany’s largest power producer, said its 1.56 gigawatt Eemshaven plant, which cost more than 3 billion euros ($3.6 billion) to build and has been in operation since 2015, would be affected by the Dutch phase-out plans from 2030.
“Unlike the German coal exit law the Dutch law does not envisage adequate compensation for this interference with the companies’ ownership,” RWE said. “We view this as unlawful.”
The company therefore has filed a lawsuit with the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), it said.
Germany is planning to phase out coal by 2038 and has paid power firms billions of euros in compensation in an effort not to repeat lawsuits utilities brought against the country for its nuclear exit, which initially included no compensation.
The Netherlands decided in 2018 to shut down all coal-fired power-based stations by 2030. ($1 = 0.8338 euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)
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