The cash cow has stopped giving: Are Germany’s lignite plants now worthless?

This report by Ember (published by Sandbag) analyzes the collapse of lignite profitability in Germany during 2019. It argues that German lignite plants, particularly those built before 1990, have become loss-making due to rising carbon prices and falling power prices, suggesting that the German government should push for early closures with minimal compensation.

• The gross profit of the German lignite fleet decreased by 54% in the first half of 2019, falling to €513 million from €1,109 million in the first half of 2018. Old lignite units (built before 1990) saw a more severe decline of 62%, with profits dropping from €500 million to €188 million.
• In the first half of 2019, the entire German lignite fleet recorded a loss of €664 million, compared to a loss of €68 million in the first half of 2018. No single lignite unit was able to cover its full fixed costs; old units lost €476 million and new units (post-1990) lost €188 million.
• Lignite plants have ceased to operate as 24/7 baseload power. Between March and June 2019, 49% of hours were uneconomic for old lignite plants, and 27% of hours were uneconomic for new lignite plants.
• Medium-term projections for 2020-2022 indicate that old lignite units will remain loss-making, with an estimated loss of €1.8 billion against full fixed costs. This is a significant increase compared to the €0.4 billion loss recorded between 2016 and 2018.
• The report recommends that the German government accelerate lignite closures, reject excessive compensation claims, and establish a minimum carbon price of at least €30/tonne to ensure lignite does not return to profitability.
• The report calls for operators RWE and LEAG to be transparent about their costs and assumptions to facilitate honest negotiations regarding the closure of old lignite units.

APA

Jones, D. (2019). The cash cow has stopped giving: Are Germany’s lignite plants now worthless? Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/03/2019-Cash-Cow-report.pdf

Chicago

Jones, Dave. The cash cow has stopped giving: Are Germany’s lignite plants now worthless? Ember, 2019. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/03/2019-Cash-Cow-report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jones |first1=Dave |title=The cash cow has stopped giving: Are Germany’s lignite plants now worthless? |publisher=Ember |date=July 2019 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/03/2019-Cash-Cow-report.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jones2019cash, author = {Jones, Dave}, title = {{The cash cow has stopped giving: Are Germany’s lignite plants now worthless?}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2020/03/2019-Cash-Cow-report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }