RWE Breaks Ground on World’s Largest Lignite Powered Plant

German chancellor Angela Merkel has laid the symbolic foundation stone of RWE’s new E2.2 billion Neurath power plant, signifying the start of construction of what will become the globe’s largest power station run on lignite.

At the ceremony, RWE CEO Harry Roels told the assembled guests that the company’s Neurath power plant was leading the way in the technological development of power generation processes. “Here at Neurath, we’ll be using the best technology in the world to generate electricity from lignite.”

Mr Roels stressed the great importance of the project for sustainable climate protection, pointing out that the new plant’s state-of-the-art technology increases the efficiency of lignite-based power generation by more than 30% compared with older systems and consequently reduces CO2 emissions per kilowatthour of electricity generated.

Construction of the facility will provide jobs for 4,000 people from the surrounding region.