Essen. . Interview with Katja van Doren, CFO and Chief HR Officer of RWE Generation: RWE intends to build new gas-fired power stations.
Interview with Katja van Doren, CFO and Chief HR Officer of RWE Generation: RWE intends to build gas-fired power stations, is open to new customer power plants and satisfied with the business in Great Britain.
There has been significant protest against RWE’s plans to clear Hambach Forest. Why is it difficult for RWE to renounce this undertaking?
van Doren: The clearance, which was planned long ago, is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that coal can be produced from the Hambach opencast mine. We cannot make our business dependent on symbolic politics – if only because we’re responsible for our employees who work in our opencast mines and power stations.
Can you appreciate the allegation that RWE is jeopardising the work of the government commission tasked with reaching a decision on the future of lignite as a result of its strict stance?
van Doren: The commission itself declared that the clearance has nothing to do with its work and is thus not a subject of its discussions. The plans relating to Hambach Forest were made a long time ago and have a clear legal basis. Since we did not do any clearance work last year, we have used up the time buffers. And as an aside, power plants will indeed be shut down while the commission does its work. In October, two further RWE lignite units will be placed on stand-by to ensure security of supply. This demonstrates that we honour agreements.
The conflict gives rise to the impression that RWE is a lignite group more than anything else. Is the company’s image in danger of being damaged?
van Doren: Let’s stick to the facts. RWE Generation encompasses the gas, hard coal, biomass and pumped-storage power plant activities and the battery storage business. With an installed capacity of 25 gigawatts, these assets are instrumental to a broad energy mix. They account for nearly 60 percent of RWE’s entire generation portfolio. In other words, RWE is about more than just lignite.
RWE has large hard coal-fired power stations in Werne, Ibbenbüren and Hamm. Do you plan to shut them down?
van Doren: Of course we monitor the development of our sites. We can only operate power plants if they are profitable. This is why we took two coal units offline in Voerde last year and plan to decommission a coal unit of the Werne power station in the spring of 2019. The rise of wholesale electricity prices following the trough last year has had a positive effect. We are currently earning money with all of our power plants.
The energy groups Uniper and Steag intend to build new gas-fired power stations in Gelsenkirchen and Herne. Does RWE have similar plans?
van Doren: We are No. 1 in gas-fired power stations in Germany and in the top 5 in Europe. This is clearly one of RWE’s growth areas. On principle, we can imagine adding new gas-fired power plants to our portfolio. Acquiring existing assets is an option for us in addition to building new stations. We are thus participating in a call for tenders by the network operator Amprion. The objective is to establish a reserve to ensure grid stability in Germany. Our winning the tender would go hand in hand with building new, flexible gas power units. We have entered RWE’s power plant sites in Gundremmingen, Karlstein and Biblis.
You also operate power stations for industrial groups such as Bayer in Dormagen, BASF in Ludwigshafen and Stahlkonzern HKM in Duisburg-Huckingen. Are you striving for further co-operative ventures of this kind?
van Doren: We are generally open to new customer power plants. We will seize any opportunities that arise.
Dutch power stations have started to use wood pellets. Is biomass an interesting proposition for your assets in Germany as well?
van Doren: In the Netherlands, we are converting our two hard coal power stations for biomass co-firing. We will start using biomass – predominantly wood pellets – in the Amer power plant in Geertruidenberg this week. At the beginning of next year, the station should run on 50 percent biomass, a share we intend to raise to 80 percent later on. We also want to run our power station at Eemshaven using wood pellets in addition to hard coal. The Dutch government offers financial incentives for conversion work. There are no such subsidies in Germany. Such undertakings are currently not profitable without this type of support.
Where do the wood pellets come from?
van Doren: We mainly fire forestry waste products and procure material with sustainability certificates for this. They comply with the strict criteria of the Dutch authorities. By co-firing, we improve our carbon footprint as biomass is carbon-neutral.
How is RWE’s waste-incineration power plant in Essen-Karnap developing?
van Doren: The power station is running wonderfully. So the situation is entirely different than in 2014 when the contracts with the Karnap cities of Bottrop, Essen, Gladbeck, Gelsenkirchen and Mülheim expired after 50 years. This predicament has been resolved and our on-site team has done outstanding work. Now this is paying off.
RWE also has five gas-fired power stations in Great Britain. Does the planned Brexit worry you?
van Doren: Britain is our biggest market, outranking even Germany. Some 1,100 of our 2,700 employees at RWE Generation are in the United Kingdom. We’re satisfied with the way things are going there. Great Britain has a functioning capacity market in which the government compensates operators of power stations for keeping their capacity available to ensure security of supply. In view of Brexit, it is beneficial to us that we have local production operations in Great Britain. However, fluctuations in currency exchange rates and an economic downturn may expose us to risks.
You also operate a power plant in Turkey. Is the currency crisis weighing on business?
van Doren: The power station in Turkey is running well and satisfactorily. However, the collapse of the Turkish lira is making itself felt. We are monitoring the development in Turkey very attentively.