Germany’s second largest coal miner is likely to receive in the region of €1 billion in compensation for the shutdown of its fossil operations, with the European Commission set to heavily cut down on agreed state aid, according to people familiar with the matter.
The commission is set to issue a draft decision on its state aid review as early as next week, the people said. The figure of the state aid is subject to change. The commission said it was in “continuous constructive contact with the German authorities in the context of the formal investigation into the compensation measure in favour of LEAG, also in light of the ongoing exchanges between the German authorities and LEAG.”
The Essen-based utility had previously sealed a deal with the government to move its coal exit forward to 2030, a step Cottbus-based LEAG is not willing to take as it insists on burning lignite — a particularly climate-harmful fossil fuel — for as long as legally possible.