Can Greenpeace Own Coal in Germany?

Coal and Related Carbon Resources / Related Environmental Issues

Date posted: 10/22/15

Eric Marx asks whether it just a bluff to pressure the development of more renewable energy, or does Greenpeace actually intend to own and manage one of the largest coal mining operations in Europe? The assets in question are a coal field and six attendant power plants in eastern Germany, worth upward of 3 billion eros and now up for auction by Vattenfall, a state-owned Swedish energy company looking to unload its lignite (brown, dirty coal) holdings as it pivots more aggressively toward renewables investments. The memorandum of understanding submitted by Greenpeace Sweden enables the commercial adversarial group to participate in negotiations with Vattenfall, while sending a signal of strong intention to the German government to step up the pace of its own energy transition. There is a discussion that needs to be had, said Annika Jacobson, head of Greenpeace Sweden, but make no mistake, she added, the move is not a ploy or some kind of PR stunt. In order to participate in the second round of bidding, the commercial adversarial group has to submit a competitive financial offer along with a viable concept for continuing the operation in what it calls a structured phaseout of lignite (brown coal) mining. At a press conference today in Berlin, Greenpeace clarified its position, revealing details of a plan that would see Vattenfall assets transferred into a foundation controlled and managed by Greenpeace Nordic. In 2014, when Sweden new left-of-center governing coalition decided to force Vattenfall to sell its German lignite operations, adversarial groups applauded the decision as a potential victory. Strong majorities in Sweden and Germany favor the phaseout of open-pit coal fields, a surface mining technique used in the extraction of lignite, a soft brown coal with a dirty reputation because of its high emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide.