Vattenfall to phase-out 1,000 MW lignite capacity

Vattenfall’s Board of Directors on Monday endorsed Vattenfall’s share of an agreement reached between the German Ministry of Economy and lignite operators to reduce lignite power capacity by 2,700 MW until 2020 – as part of Germany’s climate protection action programme.

Within this framework, Vattenfall agrees to phase out two units (F and E) of its Jänschwalde lignite power plant as of October 2018 and October 2019. The units have an installed capacity of 500 MW each and will remain in standby mode before complete shut-down in 2022/2023.

The closure of the two units corresponds to a reduction of 8 million tonnes of CO2-emissions for Vattenfall’s production portfolio.

According to the agreement plant operators will be compensated for the stand-by availability, amounting in total for all operators to approximately EUR 230 million per year over seven years.

“Closing down the plants will be a clear contribution to Germany achieving its climate target. The agreement also addresses the concern for security of supply and provides more certainty for the conditions of the remaining lignite business in Lusatia. This is important also for the divestment process”, says Magnus Hall, Vattenfall’s President and CEO.

The compensation scheme will be determined by law and implementing measures are expected to be decided in November. The final legal framework is expected at the end of the second quarter 2016 and will be subject to the approval of the German Parliament and relevant competition authorities.

Questions from media and analysts will be answered by Vattenfall’s president and CEO Magnus Hall and CFO Ingrid Bonde at the press conference on Tuesday October 27 commencing at 10.30 CET in conjunction with the presentation of Vattenfall’s 2015 January-September results.

Vattenfall discloses this information pursuant to the Swedish Securities Market Act

   
For more information please contact Vattenfall’s press office, telephone: +46 8 739 5010.

    
Vattenfall is a Swedish owned energy company with operations in Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, UK, France and Finland. Vattenfall’s vision is to create a strong and diversified European energy portfolio and to be among the leaders in developing an environmentally sustainable energy system.