In order to meet emissions targets, the state-owned Swedish energy company Vattenfall has plans to sell its lignite power plants and mines in Germany. In light of these considerations, the study aims to demonstrate what a climate-friendly and socially responsible road map for transition for Vattenfall’s phaseout of lignite in Germany by 2030 could look like. To this end, the report first outlined a road map for the phaseout of lignite and compared its (regional) economic advantages and disadvantages. Then, to ensure a socially responsible phaseout, and in particular to provide for the loss of jobs, an alternative road map was drafted that showed how this loss of jobs could be compensated by the expansion of renewable energies, at least in terms of numbers. The study was published on April 27, 2015 - the day of Vattenfall's Annual General Meeting in Sweden.

Download (PDF): K. Heinbach, M. Bost, S. Salecki, J. Weiß: Vattenfall's Opportunity - A Future for Lusatia Without Lignite, Berlin, April 2015