The Czech energy group EPH, together with LEAG and MIBRAG, controls large parts of the East German lignite industry - and is now planning to invest in new gas-fired power plants. Fridays for Future is taking to the streets in Dresden today as part of an international week of action that is targeting EPH and its main shareholder Daniel Křetínský across Europe for the first time. | more
In the district of Leipzig, a lignite excavator has to be moved to a new location and cross a main road to do so. How did the complex operation work out? | more
In Dresden-Pieschen fertigt Andrea Rehn im Zentralwerk personalisierte Geschenke für frischgebackene Eltern und deren Familien. Besonders gefragt sind bestickte Windeln mit Geburtsdaten sowie kreative Windeltorten – und das nicht nur online, sondern auch deutschlandweit über DM-Märkte. Jetzt gibt es 10 Prozent Rabatt im Shop. | more
The head of lignite producer Mibrag, Armin Eichholz, currently sees little chance of a premature coal phase-out in the east. Mibrag operates the Vereinigtes Schleenhain and Profen opencast mines in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt and generates electricity from the coal in the Schkopau and Lippendorf power plants, which are due to be taken off the grid in 2034/2035. The "traffic light" federal government would ideally like to bring forward the coal phase-out in the east from 2038 to 2030, but the Minister Presidents of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg are against this. Eichholz emphasized that the expansion of renewable energies is putting pressure on coal-fired power generation, but that the question of supply during lulls and when there is little sunshine is also relevant. The plans envisage the construction of around 40 gas-fired power plant units by 2030, but whether this is feasible remains questionable. Eichholz also emphasized that power plants would have to keep running if the supply of renewable energies was scarce and that coal could hardly be avoided if the gas-fired power plants were not completed in time. The question of whether it is still worthwhile for the power plant operators is also open. | more
